Why has Cotto received so many opportunities to fight for a title following defeats?

He has some clout and a name is better than a credit card in the boxing game.

My question is how are guys getting shots without properly ranking for a title?

It's all about name recognition.

 

Probably because as you said, 26 of his last 27 fights will have been for a major title (since despite being a 12-rounder, nothing was on the line versus D-Rod ), and on just four of those occasions was he coming off a loss. As of the Jennings opportunity, he was on a two-division run of 12-0 (10) snapped by that one loss to Margarito. As of Foreman he was 14-2 (11) with the only additional loss being to everyone's p4p #2, if not 1. As of Trout he was 17-3 (14) in world title bouts and coming off a competitive loss with the consensus #1 of his generation. As of Kamegai he was 19-5 (16) and yeah, getting the lifetime achievement treatment, but not undeservedly going by the numbers.

 

Why didn't he fight Golovkin?

 

$$$/corruption

Governing bodies like fighters that demand higher purses because they all take 3%.

 

He's exciting and brings crowds/money.

 

He's always been a pretty decent draw and that will mean people will want to face him, everyone wants that payday. Fact is having a big fan base and a style that brings that adoration from fans will always be advantageous.

The sanctioning bodies have been kind to him to some extent for the same reason, they want a piece of the Cotto pie.

 

He sells tickets. Puerto Ricans in New York will pay to watch him eat a ham sandwich the same as Mexicans in Nevada will pay to watch Canelo do his laundry. If you have a rabid fanbase, it doesn't matter if you are good. Cash cows get title shots.

 

Watching that HBO feature on Cotto's career really made me miss Trinidad, and made it obvious that Cotto only became a star because he was the only top Puerto Rican boxer when Tito left, and Puerto Rican boxing needed someone to fill the vacuum. Cotto's more a representative of a demographic than an individual star.

 

It's not that Cotto isn't good. It's that he wasn't truly great. In the two decades which his career falls into there are about twenty-four fighters who were better than him. Therefore, it feels somewhat odd or unfair that he's been treated more handsomely than all but maybe three or four of them.

 

Money money money moooney, monay!

That said he's a HOF'er who almost certainly was a top worthy option almost every time.

He isn't the only one that gets the treatment.

 

He brings purses because he gets the Puerto Rican demographic for ratings and PPV revenue. If you bring money to the table you can get lots of title shots even if your skills are just average. Axel Schultz got 3 HW title shots with crap skills thanks to big German TV money. Cotto is 10x better so I am not surprised he got lots of world title fights on his record. Money, skillset and longevity that's what long, impressive records are all about.

 

Well if you actually examine his defeats they weren't exactly to low level fighters. Margarito may not have been a huge name, but possessed a unique workrate and chin. Pacquiao was the most accomplished fighter of the decade. Mayweather was a very highly regarded fighter as well, but Cotto was clearly past prime. And after that he was just living off of his name. He became diva Cotto after the Pacquiao beatdown. The Manny Pacquiao fight took his heart from him. He longer cared about fighting, he just wanted a paycheck. And since he had fought all the big name fighters and was Puerto Rican he had a huge fanbase. And everybody wanted the Cotto money.

 

I actually rate Cotto lower than most and Manny Pacquiao is my favorite fighter. Cotto is still a very good fighter, but more like a Carl Froch level fighter. Not a borderline ATG like many view him. To me Cotto has always been a little too cute. His technique is flashy, but a little too much flash and not enough substance. He lacks the raw physical talent to compete with the very best fighters.