Although he announced in January that he will retire from boxing on December 31, veteran Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) looks forward to his fight against Japanese Yoshihiro Kamegai (27-3-2, 24 KOs) for the WBO’s vacant Junior Middleweight title on August 26 at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Cotto, who has the merit of being the only Puerto Rican boxer to win world titles in four different divisions, says he’s confident he will win his fight against Kamegai.
Cotto has not stepped into to the ring for almost two years after facing Mexican Saul “Canelo” Álvarez for the WBC middleweight title on November 7, 2015, when he was defeated by unanimous decision.
Although the fight against Kamegai will take place in the same day as the Floyd Mayweather and Conor MacGregor bout in Nevada, it has been drawing a lot of attention.
Many boxing pundits agree with Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach who recently stated that the Puerto Rican “will not have major any inconveniences” to defeat his Japanese rival.
Cotto will try to secure a sixth world championship in four categories, while making his 23rd live appearance on HBO’s World Championship Boxing.
Roach has said that they know that Kamegai is a very aggressive boxer that always tries to go forward because he has a strong jaw and is very durable so is always looking for the knockout.
Roach said in a recent press conference that Cotto will have to focus on Kamegai’s body, which he defined as a bit soft, if the Puerto Rican wants to win. The trainer explained that if Cotto attacks Kamegai with effective body punches he will soften him up and then focus on knocking him out.
For his part Cotto stated that he’s confident that if he follows Roach’s strategy he will achieve a great victory.
As for his retirement, Cotto said in an interview with ESPN that although he’s enjoyed boxing a lot “it’s time to give way to other challenges” in his career.
