[Video] A Glorious Return: Cotto Mows Down Rodriguez

There were a lot of happy Puerto Ricans in Orlando last night with Miguel Cotto, after a winless 2012, turned into his mid-2000s destroyer form with a complete smashing of Delvin Rodriguez on HBO. It’s been years since we’ve seen Cotto look this good, and the stage has now been set for Miguel to have at least one more big fight to close out his career. But was the performance truly a Hall of Fame fighter turning back the clock, or simply the smoke n’ mirrors of superb match-making?

THE ESPN-HBO/SHOWTIME DIFFERENCE: If there was ever a fight that displays the talent gulf between ESPN Friday Night Fights level opponents and the elite on HBO and Showtime, this is it. That’s not to demean ESPN fighters — many current champions (like Danny Garcia, for example), got their start on that staple boxing network. However, there’s a difference between fighters who make a career at that level, like Rodriguez, and fighters like Cotto who’ve repeatedly faced the absolute best in the sport.

The last time Cotto had a “gimme” or “easy” fight goes back to 2009, when he faced Michael Jennings in his first bout back after getting a horrific beating from Antonio Margarito. Since then, he’s given up size (Yuri Foreman), fought the P4P best (Pacquiao, Mayweather), and fighters that most on his popularity level sought to avoid (Joshua Clottey, Austin Trout).

After all this time, people have forgotten how truly good Miguel Cotto could look against non-elite fighters. Those were the opponents, like Alfonso Gomez, Oktay Urkal, and Carlos Quintana, that Cotto would waste no time tearing into.

Looking very nimble on his feet, Cotto established supremacy from the first round. He easily slid under Rodriguez’s jab and made repeated deposits in the bank with hard left hooks to the body. Rodriguez, who went to war in the trenches with Pawel Wolak on ESPN a few years ago, found himself outgunned and being forced to give ground.

The second round was worse. Rodriguez’s eyes were turned into pinballs by Cotto now bringing the left hook upstairs, and switching looks by unleashing overhand rights. A right-left hook combo at the end of the round, with Rodriguez trapped on the ropes, had him badly blinking before sitting on his stool, signaling that the prey was ready for the kill shot.

That death-blow came earlyinto the third with Cotto again pushing him to the ropes and crashing home a left hook thrown with full-weight momentum. Rodriguez sagged to the lower ropes completely defenseless, and referee Frank Santore Jr. literally dove between the two to stop the massacre as Cotto landed another left for good measure.

FULL FIGHT VIDEO

PICK YOUR DESTINY: With this win, Cotto has solidified what no other fighter has at the moment — the option of a big fight at HBO or Showtime. With the former, Cotto could shoot for his fourth title in as many weight classes by facing Sergio Martinez next year for the middleweight strap. On the latter end, Cotto can face Canelo in what is always a great matchup in Puerto Rico vs. Mexico.

What’s the best choice? Cotto would be the underdog in both. Martinez, who’s been hampered in recent years by injuries, would be less physically taxing, even though it’s risky at the higher weight. Canelo, a much bigger man and harder puncher, would take Cotto back to the warfare his body might not be able to withstand at this stage.

I had no idea what Cotto will decide. Money is never a factor with him, so the fact the Canelo fight will be considerably more lucrative means little. If I had to make an educated guess, I’ll give the edge to the Martinez fight happening. I say this because it offers a higher legacy incentive (winning the middleweight title), and it’s in line with Cotto’s recent statements on wanting to finish his career with the companies who gave him his start, Top Rank and HBO.

BODY REST: Here’s an interesting fact. This is the first time in 4 years that a Cotto fight has finished in five rounds or less. Since defeating Jennings in 2009, all of Cotto’s eight fights have gone at least 9 rounds, with five going to the 12th. That’s a lot of mileage for any fighter. This rest and lack of damage will serve Cotto’s body and confidence very well leading into his next big fight decision.

CRAWFORD WINS: On the undercard, lightweight Terence Crawford took a dull, shutout 10-round decision win over Andrey Klimov (100-90 on all cards). It did Crawford no favors that Klimov didn’t want to exchange much. To make matter worse, HBO had started the hype machine behind him, making a lot of fans tune in looking for a great performance.

Fights like these happen to everyone, so don’t write off Crawford just yet. He needs a good opponent who’ll come at him. Ray Beltran, who’s coming off a dubious draw in the UK where he broke Ricky Burns’ jaw, would be an excellent test before a title opportunity.