Miguel Cotto's win over Shane Mosley this past Saturday got me thinking. He is still a relatively young fighter and has only been around in the professional ranks for 6 years. However, he has done a lot in that time frame, beating 9 world champions and a future hall of famer along with his 2 world titles in 2 weight classes. While he is not on the level of Carlos Ortiz, Wilfredo Gomez, Wilfred Benitez, or Felix Trinidad, has he surpassed fellow Puerto Rican champion and Boxing Hall of Famer, the late Edwin "Chapo" Rosario? That is the question - which fighter is greater? Here are their respective resumes for reference... Edwin Rosario 47-6 (41) Notable Wins: Jose Luis Ramirez, Howard Davis Jr, Juan Nazario, Edwin Viruet, Frankie Randall, Livingstone Bramble, Roberto Elizondo, Anthony Jones, Loreto Garza, Dwayne Swift Losses: Jose Luis Ramirez, Hector Camacho, Julio Cesar Chavez, Juan Nazario, Akinobu Hiranaka, Frankie Randall Titles: WBC, WBA Lightweight Title/WBA Light Welterweight Title Title Defenses: 3 Miguel Cotto 31-0 (25) Notable Wins: Shane Mosley, Zab Judah, Paul Malignaggi, Ricardo Torres, DeMarcus Corley, Carlos Quintana, Lovemore N'Dou, Victoriano Sosa, Carlos Maussa, Randall Bailey, Oktay Urkal Losses: None Titles: WBO Light Welterweight Title/WBA Welterweight Title Title Defenses: 9
Roasario was good, but IMO not on the same level as Cotto. Its hard to compare though because Cotto has so much of his career left. Whilst Mosley is probably the biggest name on both resumes, Rosarios is probably stronger overall at this point. Still, I have voted based on whom I think is the better fighter. On resume alone I would choose Rosario.
the difference b/w Rosario and Cotto is that Cotto recovers quickly when hurt, while Rosario did not.
