Miguel Cotto vs Yoshihiro Kamegai

Miguel Cotto returned from a 21-month absence to defeat Yoshihiro Kamegai over 12 rounds at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, on August 26, 2017. The vacant WBO junior-middleweight championship was at stake before a sold-out attendance of 7,689. Cotto, 36, entered with a record of 40 wins and five defeats and weighed 153½ pounds. Kamegai, a 34-year-old Japanese campaigner with 27 wins, three defeats and two draws, was 153¾. It was Cotto’s first appearance since losing a decision to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in November 2015 and his first contest under a new agreement with Golden Boy Promotions. Lou Moret was the referee.

Kamegai began as expected, advancing steadily and attempting to crowd the Puerto Rican. Cotto did not immediately surrender the ground. He met the challenger with jabs, hooks and firm blows to both sides of the body, then brought an uppercut through the middle when Kamegai pressed him towards the ropes. The Japanese boxer answered downstairs, but Cotto’s punches were shorter and better placed. Several combinations finished with the left hook, and another hard hook caught Kamegai at the bell. The pattern was established in the second round. Kamegai continued walking forward, only to be met by Cotto’s left hook to the head and body. Blood appeared from his nose and mouth, but he neither retreated nor altered his approach. He occasionally reached Cotto’s body and forced an exchange along the ropes before the bell, though the cleaner punching again belonged to the former four-weight champion.

Cotto boxed more freely in the third, turning Kamegai after landing and using his feet to create room for the left hook. A straight right followed by a hook struck cleanly, while uppercuts to the body and head interrupted Kamegai’s forward movement. The challenger continued to pursue him and had some success with an uppercut downstairs, making it a closer round without matching Cotto’s accuracy. In the fourth, Kamegai increased his own output, but a hard right hand stopped him momentarily. Cotto followed with a jab and uppercuts to the body and head, then moved away before Kamegai could establish himself at close quarters. Kamegai’s resistance was already remarkable. He absorbed repeated clean blows, gathered himself and resumed the advance.

The fifth and sixth rounds contained much of the same brisk action. Cotto landed in clusters of three, four and five punches, pivoted towards open space and caught Kamegai again when he followed. Kamegai managed a straight right and several body punches, but his successes generally brought an immediate and heavier reply. He struck with a right uppercut in the sixth, prompting Cotto to answer with four or five punches. Hard right hands and hooks landed upstairs, yet Kamegai merely shook his head and continued. By then Cotto understood that a knockout was unlikely. His tactics shifted from holding his ground to turning the challenger, punching during Kamegai’s approach, and refusing to remain stationary after completing a combination.

Kamegai slipped a left hook behind Cotto’s elbow in the seventh, but Cotto replied with the jab and hooks to either side of the body. The same three-punch combination repeatedly found its target, and a cut was visible beneath Kamegai’s left eye when he returned to his corner. In the eighth, Cotto’s uppercut and a hard four-punch sequence again caught the advancing man. Kamegai landed a clean right hand, but he could not sustain an attack because Cotto was quicker to strike and quicker to leave. The punishment began to tell more plainly in the ninth. Two hooks snapped Kamegai’s head in opposite directions, and a straight right landed as his pursuit lost some of its earlier speed. Even then, he kept moving forward and remained upright.

Cotto had a small cut on his forehead in the tenth round, apparently caused by an accidental clash of heads. He reduced his pace briefly, allowing Kamegai to reach the body and land two solid blows late in the round, but he continued to score with the jab and successive hooks whenever the challenger entered range. By this stage Cotto had surpassed his previous personal mark for power punches attempted. In the eleventh he worked both sides of Kamegai’s body and landed another heavy left hook to the head. Kamegai responded with a left downstairs, but Cotto answered immediately. There was no serious attempt by either corner to curtail the contest. Kamegai was badly marked and had taken sustained punishment, but he remained alert, balanced and determined to finish.

The final round brought no change in control. Kamegai advanced to the last, while Cotto met him with the jab, drove him backwards when necessary and delivered further three-punch combinations. There were no knockdowns, warnings or deductions. At the finish, Kamegai had demonstrated exceptional endurance but had been comprehensively outboxed. Cotto landed 339 of 839 punches, including 251 power blows, tying his career high in that category while connecting with 40 per cent of everything he threw. Kamegai never appeared close to going down, but his pressure produced too little effective offence to offset the champion’s speed, movement and combination punching.

The decision was unanimous. Robin Taylor scored every round for Cotto at 120-108, Pat Russell returned 119-109, and Zachary Young had it 118-110. Cotto improved to 41-5 and became a world champion for the sixth time, while Kamegai fell to 27-4-2. It was a commanding victory, though not an effortless one. Cotto had been required to work continuously against a larger man who could not be discouraged, but his control was never seriously threatened. He announced afterwards that he intended to fight once more before retiring at the end of the year. Kamegai, acknowledging his inability to catch the quicker man, had at least completed the full distance under a severity of punishment that would have stopped many opponents.

I saw this as a useful final examination for Miguel Cotto rather than another great night in a great career. He had been out for 21 months since losing to Canelo, yet his timing, balance and punch selection remained far beyond Yoshihiro Kamegai’s level.

Kamegai was made for him. The Japanese co-challenger marched forward with courage but little defence, allowing Cotto to turn him and land the left hook almost whenever he wanted. Cotto mixed head and body shots beautifully, finishing with 339 punches landed, but he could not shift a man whose chin bordered on ridiculous.

The wide scores were correct. Kamegai’s pressure looked purposeful but wasn’t effective, and toughness alone doesn’t win rounds. Cotto was no longer the relentless fighter who broke down Carlos Quintana or Antonio Margarito, but he remained a proper craftsman. Experience and technique gave youth and durability a boxing lesson.