Miguel Cotto, undefeated in his climb to the top of the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions, and Zab Judah, who has risen to and fallen from that perch in both divisions, will be called to a larger purpose Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
Their matchup in the erstwhile “Mecca of boxing” has the potential to showcase the sport’s excitement. And at this moment, living up to that potential is critical.
Boxing is struggling. Recent dull title bouts featuring middleweights Jermain Taylor vs. Cory Spinks and heavyweights Shannon Briggs vs. Sultan Ibragimov have done little to deflect mixed martial arts’ challenge as a prime spectator attraction.
So it falls to Cotto and Judah to build on momentum from Floyd Mayweather’s victory over Oscar De La Hoya last month, a bout that briefly put the sport in the spotlight.
Cotto, a 26-year-old Puerto Rican, has dealt with the pressure of being tabbed as the successor to the island’s recent icons Wilfred Benitez and Felix Trinidad. But he remains focused on Saturday’s task.
“I intend to fight a real fight,” Cotto said of his World Boxing Association welterweight title defense. “I hope Zab is coming with the same attitude. The only thing I expect from Zab is that he fights a good, clean fight. The rest of the work I put in my own hands.”
By the time the bell rings Saturday, Cotto will have put in extra work to help promote the bout. For starters, the Spanish-speaking champion has learned enough from a tutor to begin speaking English in interviews. In New York City, he has attended a street festival, thrown out the first pitch at a Mets game, done a local TV weather forecast and toured the city in a bus bearing his image. He intends to appear Sunday in the city’s Puerto Rican Day parade.
Cotto will be fighting for the fourth time in the last 12 months, while Judah has fought only one minute over the last year, and that was indecisive. Therefore, he has plenty to prove Saturday night.
Judah “is fighting for his boxing life,” promoter Bob Arum said.
Judah is on a three-fight winless streak since May 2005. He lost to Carlos Baldomir and Mayweather early last year, was suspended for a year for fouling Mayweather and touching off a riot in the ring in Las Vegas, then fought a no-contest against journeyman Ruben Galvan on April 13. The bout was stopped in the first round when Galvan suffered a head cut that was ruled to have been caused by Judah’s elbow.
Brooklynite Judah, 29, blamed his Madison Square Garden loss to underdog Baldomir on since resolved “distractions” involving his family and friends.
He dismissed Cotto as “a one-dimensional fighter” whom he will “punish” for all 12 rounds.
Aware that his stamina has been questioned, Judah said, “I want to prove that I can go strong after seven rounds.”
If he wins, he has said he wants a rematch against the supposedly retired Mayweather, boxing’s consensus best pound-for-pound fighter. If Cotto wins Saturday, Mayweather also would be discussed as a possible opponent.
“We believe Cotto can run Mayweather out of the ring,” Arum said.
While Judah and Cotto focus on their job inside the ropes, Arum sees another task at hand.
“What we’re trying to do here is show the fans how appealing boxing is,” he said, referring also to the undercard on the HBO pay-per-view telecast.
Toward that end, he said, there will be more competitive matchups with less downtime between bouts.
Arum criticized recent bouts such as Taylor-Spinks and De La Hoya-Mayweather for featuring “dancing businessmen who don’t fight with their hearts.”
“Boxing is healthy as long as we present a product that entertains people,” he said.
That requires a certain kind of competitor.
“If a fighter is fighting for recognition, he throws everything he has into the bout,” Arum said.
Cotto, who is under contract to him, always has that motivation, Arum said. And Judah, he says, knows this could be his last chance to regain the elite status he once held.
Looming large in the wings whenever boxing stumbles in the spotlight is mixed martial arts.
“I think their marketing is fabulous,” Arum conceded. “I’m not crazy about the product.”
Arum also admitted to “stealing” Ultimate Fighting Championship ideas such as more current music between bouts for fans at the arena and faster pacing to produce more televised undercard bouts with less time between them.
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mhirsley@tribune.com
