Miguel Cotto vs. David Lemieux

In talks for December 2nd as Junito's official retirement bout, in NYC on HBO PPV. Now that's what I call going out with a bang.

Say what you will about him (and being a fan of his was a challenge over the years, especially as more and more diva tendencies started bubbling up) but the man has cojones. As of the mooted fight night, Cotto will be 37 (nine years Lemieux's senior), facing a 2½" deficit in height and 3" in reach, in with a large natural middleweight packing a huge punch and with a no-joke resume at the weight. He could've milked his newly acquired WBO belt at 154lbs and taken on a soft touch from anywhere in that org's top 15 and nobody would have given him any guff. He doesn't need to be taking on a dangerous guy in a division that was always honestly a step too far, with no thing but pride at stake. Respect.

 

True but Cotto is a much better pure boxer than Lemieux and has looked very strong under Roach, packing on lots of bulk without sacrificing too much speed and increasing his raw physicality, returning to his more savage early-career style roots. This version of Cotto might be able to keep Lemieux on the backfoot where he is as ineffective as, say, Delvin Rodriguez or Antonio Margarito.

Or...this guy could just be way too big and powerful (despite his limitations, and in truth we have seen gradual improvements to all facets of the Canadian's game in recent years) and Cotto ends up getting decapitated in a disquieting spectacle with Melissa Guzmán and that fragile son unloading a gallon of tears at ringside.

 

Could he possibly, however - bear with me now - satisfy his ego with a mixture of boxing and fighting in the first half, taking as many bombs as he dares and shredding Davey's body with left hooks in the can hope that he can sap the younger, bigger man's strength...and then get on his bike, DLH vs. Tito style and hope for the best on the cards? Lemieux isn't going to lay a hand on him if and when Miguel decides to go into survival mode.

Now it begs the question, since this is a middleweight contest (there's no way Lemieux is cutting to super welter, just no way) and neither of them has a belt at 160...could this be scheduled for 10? Because then, advantage Cotto...

 

One could argue Lemieux is just Kamegai with more brawn and more explosive artillery. If the Puerto Rican legend fought at his most careful (or as careful as Cotto is capable of, because of course you know he will feel the need need to sprinkle in a little fan service and stand toe to toe at least a few times) with a bit of luck...who knows?

 

What I'm saying though is that if Cotto and Roach were smart they would ESCHEW having a trinket awarded, because scheduling it for ten is very much in their favor. Lemieux despite his improvements still usually starts pretty slow (unless you don't have great movement or stand to slug with him, in which case he's blasting you out early) and might conceivably give away enough rounds early while solving the Cotto puzzle to allow Cotto to start coasting around the 7th or 8th and hope that he already has enough points banked to juuuuuust sneak a decision over 10, minimizing the amount of time Lemieux could batter him late.

 

This is win-win for Lemieux. He gets a massive payday (rivaling perhaps the one from when he fought GGG on PPV) and his chances of returning to middleweight and securing a future big payday with Golovkin II, or Jacobs, or Canelo - all remain unharmed no matter the result here. Even if he loses to Cotto he's still a top contender and money draw at MW.

 

Watch some idiots claim this constitutes a duck of xyz dudes at 154lb.

Like yes there are fighters at the weight that he could have chosen to unify with or whatever that are p4p better than Lemieux but this is still a ballsy move on Cotto's part because nobody at Jr. Mid is anywhere near as dangerous h2h.