Miguel Cotto, 35, recently lost a highly anticipated match against Canelo Alvarez via decision, marking his first major stepback since undergoing training by famous boxing coach Freddie Roach. According to a report from SBNation, this might force Cotto to retire early insteading of moving forward with additional fights.
Cotto has reportedly been fighting as a professional boxer for 14 years and has an impressive record of 40-5 with 33 knockouts. However, his career took a nosedive down when he suffered his first loss in a 2008 fight against Antonio Margarito.
This was then followed by a significant loss against legendary eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in 2009 and later defeated by the now-retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2012. Following his loss against Canelo Alvarez, it is pointed out in the report that the future looks bleak for Cotto and he may be forced to simply hang his gloves.
According to the report, the biggest factor working against Cotto is his age. At 35, the boxer is starting to get too old for the sport and his body may not be able to handle the fatigue and physical requirements needed to stay on top, particularly when there are many younger boxers still in their prime looking to take a shot at a worn-out star boxer.
However, Cotto and his team have not yet officially stated the boxer will indeed retire, although they also have yet to confirm if he has another fight lined up for 2016.
The Bleacher Report cites that Cotto may end up facing against Gennady Golovkin as a means to silence naysayers, or Timothy Bradley, Andy Lee or a rematch against Alvarez. Vine Report, on the other hand, states that Cotto may instead head off to face Daniel Lee while also citing Golovkin and Alvarez.
Cotto is likely to reveal his next plan, whether to continue fighting or to retire, before the end of the year.
