By Sevak Sarkisian: Fight fans around the world are anticipating the return of legendary Puerto
Rican boxing sensation, Miguel Cotto (41-5 33KO’s). Cotto will be returning to the ring to
defend his WBO 154lb world title on December 2nd against former welterweight title
challenger Sadam Ali (25-1 14KO’s) in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden
in New York. This fight is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and will be aired live on HBO.
Miguel Cotto stands at 5’7 in height and possesses a 67-inch reach. Cotto is a former four
division world champion and a versatile fighter. In the beginning of his career, he was known to
be a stalker who walked opponents down and had a vicious left hook to the body. However, he
has also proven many times that he can move around and use his legs well work off the jab and
box. He has also shown and proven to the fans that he has a lot of heart and always gives it his
all everytime he steps into the ring. Cotto has an impressive resume and holds wins over
Ricardo Torress, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga and Sergio
Martinez.
Sadam Ali, on the other hand, stands at 5’9 in height and possesses a 73-inch reach. He is
stylistically a pure boxer. In my humble opinion, he is very similar to Amir Khan but more
controlled. Like Amir Khan, he isn’t the most durable fighter and doesn’t deal well with
consistent pressure. His biggest and most impressive win to date came against Luis Carlos
Abregu for the WBO Intercontinental Welterweight Title. Abregu was looked at as a hard
puncher and many fans thought that he would beat Sadam Ali. However, Ali put on a
sensational and complete performance that night. He started the fight off moving and using his
legs while working off the jab out boxing Abregu. Once he softened Abregu off a bit he began to
sit down on his punches more and ended up finishing Abregu in the later rounds in devastating
fashion. That was such a well-rounded performance by Ali because he showcased skill and
boxing ability but then also showed the ability and the will to finish an opponent off.
However, with all that being said, I still have to pick Miguel Cotto to win this fight. Cotto will be
the biggest, strongest and most skilled opponent Sadam has faced to date. Cotto can also be a
very good pressure fighter when he wants to and Sadam can’t handle pressure and doesn’t
always stand up to power punchers too well. Sadam Ali is also moving up a whole weight
division for this fight which obviously favors Cotto. I expect Ali to give it his all and put in a
good effort but I predict Cotto winning by stoppage or knock out.