José Miguel Cotto Vázquez (born June 22, 1977) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer and a four-time regional level champion. He is the brother of six-time world boxing champion Miguel Cotto and the cousin of lightweight contender Abner Cotto.

José Miguel Cotto
Born
José Miguel Cotto Vázquez

(1977-06-22) June 22, 1977 (age 47)
NationalityPuerto Rican
Statistics
Weight(s)Super bantamweight
Featherweight
Super featherweight
Lightweight
Light welterweight
Welterweight
Light middleweight
Height5 ft 5.5 in (1.66 m)
StanceOrthodox
Boxing record
Total fights38
Wins33
Wins by KO24
Losses4
Draws1
Medal record
Men's boxing
Representing  Puerto Rico
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 1995 Mar del Plata Bantamweight

Amateur career

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In 1995, as an amateur, he participated at the Pan American Games in Mar del Plata, Argentina, and won a silver medal. A year later, he represented his native country at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he was defeated in the first round.

Pro career

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He won the WBC Youth World super bantamweight title on August 20, 2000, a split decision win against a capable young Fernando Velardez (who would later fight Mexican legend Erik Morales for Morales' WBC Featherweight title).

On July 25, 2003, Cotto was supposed to fight in Phoenix, Arizona. However, his opponent had trouble getting a license to fight, as he had been knocked out recently and was serving a 45-day suspension from another state. The Arizona boxing commission was unable to find Cotto an opponent in time, and the fight got cancelled.

On September 9, at his native Caguas, Cotto finally returned to action, with a first-round knockout win over Johnny Walker. On December 19, he fought Anthony Martinez in Aibonito, winning by an eighth-round knockout.

Cotto moved to Phoenix early in 2004. On April 14 of that year, he stopped Mexican Luis Lizarraga at two minutes and thirty-seven seconds of the first round to win the regional, International Boxing Council (IBC) Intercontinental super featherweight title. He has also won the vacant WBO intercontinental super featherweight title during his fight with Genaro Trazancos.

On August 6, he beat former WBA Bantamweight champion Al Kotey by a ten-round unanimous decision in San Juan. On August 20, 2005, Cotto would have boxed Manuel Medina, with a world title shot at stake. But he was unable to make the fight's weight limit and the fight was cancelled.

On January 29, 2005, Cotto knocked out Armando Cordoba in the first round to win the vacant WBO NABO lightweight title.

On January 20, 2006, Cotto knocked Ubaldo Hernandez out in seven rounds at Mayfield, California. On April 8, he received his first world title try, losing a twelve-round decision to Juan Díaz as part of a Pay Per View undercard, for the WBA world Lightweight title in an exciting fight where both contestants threw nearly a hundred punches per round.

In May 2007, he and Prawat Singwangcha (30-3-1, 18 KOs) battled to a twelve-round draw in a bout for the vacant WBA lightweight title.

Cotto then proceeded to fight Canelo Álvarez at welterweight. Cotto got off to a good start and almost knocked out Alvarez, in round 2, Cotto went down after missing a hook. The referee stopped the fight in round 9 after Cotto was trapped in the corner and was taking many flush right hands by Alvarez.

On April 9, 2011, he lost a 10-round unanimous decision to former IBF Light Welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi, managing to buckle Maligaggi a couple of times.

He was scheduled to face former two time lightweight champion José Luis Castillo on February 11, 2012, though it was cancelled due to Castillo coming in overweight. On April 21, 2012, Jose Cotto beat Eric Cruz (13-8 13 KO's) by UD over 10 rounds, knocking the overmatched opponent down twice.

Professional boxing record (incomplete)

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33 Wins (24 knockouts), 4 loss(s), 1 Draw, 0 No Contest [1]
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Loss 33-4-1   Manuel Pérez SD 10 2012-07-21   Oasis Hotel Complex, Cancún, Quintana Roo For NABA Lightweight title.
Win 33-3-1   Eric Cruz UD 10 2012-04-21   Coliseo Roger L. Mendoza, Caguas
Loss 32-3-1   Paulie Malignaggi UD 10 2011-04-09   MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
Win 32-2-1   Christopher Henry TKO 4 (10), 1:19 2010-11-05   Coliseo Cosme Beitia Salamo, Cataño
Loss 31-2-1   Canelo Álvarez TKO 9 (10), 2:51 2010-05-01   MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas For NABF WBA Latino Super-Light Welterweight title.
Win 31-1-1   Ilido Julio TKO 6 (8) 2009-12-19   Coliseo Roger L. Mendoza, Caguas
Win 30-1-1   Martin Ramirez KO 3 (8), 2:52 2009-09-26   Coliseo Héctor Solá Bezares, Caguas
Win 29-1-1   Anthony Woods TKO 4 (8), 2:24 2009-08-29   Coliseo Ruben Viera, Las Piedras
Draw 28-1-1   Prawet Singwancha MD 12 2007-05-11   Coliseo Angel 'Cholo' Espada, Salinas For vacant WBA World Lightweight title.
Win 28-1-0   Ivan Hernandez TKO 10 (10), 1:57 2006-08-04   Coliseo Pedrín Zorrilla, Hato Rey
Loss 27-1-0   Juan Díaz UD 12 2006-04-08   Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas For WBA World Lightweight title.
Win 26-0-0   Ubaldo Hernandez KO 7 (10), 2:59 2006-01-20   Activity Center, Maywood, California
Win 25-0-0   Genaro Trazancos TKO 7 (12), 1:00 2005-03-04   Coliseo Pedrín Zorrilla, Hato Rey Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title.
Win 24-0-0   Armando Cordoba KO 1 (12), 1:27 2005-01-29   Coliseo Rubén Rodríguez, Hato Rey Won vacant WBO NABO Lightweight title.
Win 23-0-0   Alfred Kotey UD 10 2004-08-06   Coliseo Pedrín Zorrilla, Hato Rey
Win 22-0-0   Luis Alfonso Lizarraga KO 1 (11), 2:27 2004-05-14   Dodge Theater, Phoenix, Arizona Won IBC Intercontinental Lightweight title.

See also

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  • Boxing record for José Cotto from BoxRec (registration required)
  • Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "José Cotto". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Fernando Velardez
WBC Youth World Super Bantamweight Champion
August 20, 2000 – September 23, 2000
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Fernando Velardez
Vacant
Title last held by
Lemuel Nelson
IBC Intercontinental Super Featherweight Champion
April 14, 2004 – 2005
Vacated
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Vacant
Title last held by
Ebo Elder
WBO NABO Lightweight Champion
January 29, 2005 – July 22, 2005
Vacated
Succeeded by
Rolando Reyes
Vacant
Title last held by
Janos Nagy
WBO Intercontinental Super Featherweight Champion
March 4, 2005 – December 2, 2005
Vacated
Succeeded by
Julio Pablo Chacon