Trout W12 Cotto: Retains WBA Light Middle Championship

Sound As A Trout In The Garden.

Austin Trout gatecrashed the 154lbs. party on Saturday night when he pulled off a shock win over boxing mega-star Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden. Trout was a deserving and convincing points winner on scores of 117-111 (twice),119-109 (too wide). Trout came on strong over the second half of the fight and Cotto wilted under the pressure, silencing his partisan crowd. It is huge win for Trout as he moves from obscure title holder to one of the leading contenders to challenge Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.

Trout, 26-0 (14), started well showing good composure and landed the cleaner shots, some right hooks, straight lefts from the southpaw stance.

Cotto, 37-4 (30), throughout the fight had trouble with his accuracy and timing. In the first half of the fight he applied decent pressure but too many times he fell short with his punches. I gave Cotto the second and third close rounds on pressure mostly but Trout always looked comfortable.

Trout started to find his range more often in the fourth and fifth rounds. His movement was efficient and he seemed to find a nice rhythm to his work.

Cotto had tried to move to the inside and make it a war but again he was inaccurate, only landing the odd left hook. Cotto began to give ground in the sixth round. He looked tired but like the great warrior he is, he rallied to land several combinations to edge a close round.

Trout still looked slick and in control. In the seventh he raised his game, landing several straight lefts and right-hook counters. Trout finished the round strongly and suddenly Cotto’s defences started to fail him.

Trout took over the fight from the eight round on, looking strong and fresh, as Cotto tried to stay in the fight. He could not muster the skill or the strength on this occasion however.

Trout’s slick southpaw style was all wrong for Cotto. Trout controlled the distance and centre of the ring over the second half of the fight and once Cotto was backed up, the fight had turned. Try as only he might, he could not shift Trout’s momentum. He had to show a champions heart to survive in the last two rounds. He’ll be back and you’d be a fool to right him off.

Trout’s future is uncertain because he could fall into the world class ‘who needs him’ category. Is there enough money in a fight between him and Mayweather yet? I suspect not. Will Alvarez want to fight him? This was a huge step up for him after winning a vacant title in Febuary 2011. His four world title fights before this were mostly wide decisions against fringe contenders, at best.

Trout could face fellow Americans James Kirkland and Cornelius Bundrage, the IBF champion.There are plenty of high-profile fighters in the light middleweight division so he should manage to get a lucrative contest.