Austin Trout: “Cotto is a future Hall of Famer, but this is my time now”

09/14/201609/02/2012 ESB

Austin Trout: “Cotto is a future Hall of Famer, but this is my time now” By Joseph Herron: It’s Official! On December 1st, three division world champion and future Hall of Famer Miguel Angel Cotto (37-3, 30 KOs) will take on current WBA Junior Middleweight Champion Austin “No Doubt” Trout (25-0, 14 KOs) at the world renowned Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY.

When most boxing insiders didn’t believe Austin would ever get the opportunity to showcase his skills on the biggest stage of boxing, the Las Cruces, New Mexico resident always had faith that his time would eventually come.

“I’ve definitely paid my dues,” claims the 26 year old southpaw fighter. “But I really have to thank Al Haymon for this big fight. He told me that he was working on something big, and he really delivered.”

The big 154 pound title fight will easily be Austin’s toughest test to date. Not only will the young chameleon be facing a three division warrior who can box and punch proficiently, but the reigning title holder will also be fighting in the hostile confines of Cotto’s venue of choice; Madison Square Garden.

Austin believes the pro-Cotto crowd won’t be a problem.

Pacquiao’s options down to Marquez and Bradley after Cotto chooses to fight Trout

09/14/201608/31/2012 ESB

By Marcus Richardson: Manny Pacquiao’s options are now greatly limited after Miguel Cotto announced that he’ll be fighting WBA World light middleweight champion Austin Trout on December 1st at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Pacquiao and his promoter Bob Arum now much choose from Tim Bradley (29-0, 12 KO’s) and Juan Manuel Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KO’s) for Pacquiao’s upcoming fight in December. It’s not even a choice, is it? Arum wants to maximize his fighter Pacquiao’s payday and it seems pretty clear that the only option they have if they want to do that is to fight 39-year-old Marquez next.

Who knows how many more fights Pacquiao has in him, so it kind of makes sense for Arum to be looking to squeeze every last cent out of the remaining fights of his Filipino star’s career because the Pacquiao train seems to be slowing down now that he’s showing signs of aging.

Marquez would be smart to jump on the Cotto news and demand a bigger slice of the revenue for a Pacquiao fight, because there’s really not many options for Pacquiao now. To be sure, Pacquiao can take the Bradley rematch, make less money for himself and Arum, and possibly get beaten again if Bradley uses movement and a more consistent attack. With Pacquiao limited to fighting hard in the last 20 seconds of every round, Bradley would have a good chance of beating him again.

Miguel Cotto to fight Austin Trout on December 1st at Madison Square Garden

09/14/201608/31/2012 ESB

By Rob Smith: In a shocking move, Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30 KO’s) is saying that he’ll be fighting WBA World light middleweight champion Austin Trout (25-0, 14 KO’s) on December 1st at Madison Square Garden in New York. This is kind of a strange move by Cotto, because he could have gotten a much bigger and better paying fight against Manny Pacquiao rather than this. It’s not that Trout isn’t a good fighter, it’s just that he doesn’t have a large fan base at this time.

Speaking on his twitter account earlier today, Cotto said “I officially announce that my fight on December 1st at Madison Square Garden will be with undefeated WBA Super Welterweight Austin Trout.”

Who’d have thought that Cotto would choose Trout. You’d think that Cotto would have been better off waiting on the Saul Alvarez vs. Josesito Lopez results from September 15th and then looking to take on the winner of that fight. A fight between Cotto and Alvarez would be a huge in New York, Texas, Las Vegas or California. It would definitely be a much bigger fight than Cotto-Trout. Is Cotto looking for the safer fight by choosing Trout? You have to wonder, because he could have so much more if he chose Pacquiao or Alvarez or even waiting on a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.