By Glenn Wilson

WBO Junior Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto was on the fast track to super stardom, wins over quality fighters with names like Bazan, Maussa, Sosa, N'Dou, Pinto and Bailey only furthered his growing legend. The Puerto Rican star showed poise beyond his years, outside the ring a mild mannered, confident national hero, inside a calm deliberate ko artist who could end a fight with a devastating left to the liver or equaly devastating left hook or straight right to the head.

Cotto always had a look of invincibility, with each win his supporters grew more and more vocal, they wanted Hatton, Tszyu or Mayweather. This was a man on a mission, seek and destroy the best Junior Welters and leave no doubt as to who was the real Junior Welterweight champion of the world.

But something happened to the shining knight on the way to mount his white steed, a man named DeMarcus Corley threw a rock at Cotto and preceeded to put a dent in Miguel's armor. 

In February 2005 Corley, considered little more than a decent test and a tune up, ventured to Cotto's native Puerto Rico to try and resurrect his own career. Corley would dance, jab, move and try to steal rounds. Cotto would stalk, land big shots and thrill his fans with an early stoppage. The fight went exactly as most experts had predicted it would with one small exception, it appeared that Cotto may have received some home cooking when the fight was stopped prematurely and one big exception, in round three Corley landed a right hand that visibly hurt Cotto. Corley, not known as a big puncher, stunned Cotto but could not finish him off. Team Cotto shrugged off the punch as a lucky punch that surprised Miguel more than actually hurt him.

Four months later he took on up and coming Mohamad Abdulaev. Abdulaev had a strong amateur background and had done solid work as a pro. 

Abdulaev pushed forward most of the fight while Cotto was happy to backtrack and pick his shots. A bad cut ended matters for Abdulaev in round nine but not before another chink had been exposed in Cotto's armor. Cotto was easily ahead at fights end but he showed that he was susceptible to a fighter who would press the issue during the fight. Abdulaev moved straight in when Cotto was on the ropes but he never used any side to side movement to attack Cotto. It was obvious that had Abdulaev used angles when in close he may have been more effective and had greater success in the fight.

Finally, in September of last year Cotto took on Ricardo Torres. Torres was 28-0 with 26 knockouts, going into the fight, so power was his number one weapon, but Cotto's people felt that he could not hurt their man and perhaps his wins had come against lesser opponents.

It didn't take long for Torres to show Cotto that he had come to fight, while Torres hit the canvas a total of four times it was Cotto who may have been in deeper waters. Torres dropped Cotto in round two and had him seriously hurt in the fifth.

Cotto was able to halt Torres in the seventh but the questions began to drown out the calls of Cotto's impending greatness, this marked the third fight in a row that Cotto had been seriously hurt or challenged.

Soon after the fight, Hatton and other top Junior Welters began putting Cotto's name on their wish list. The opposite seemed to ring true for Team Cotto. 

Instead of Hatton, Mayweather or Gatti, Cotto will begin the year by fighting Italy's Gianluca Branco on March 4. While Branco is considered a respectible fighter, he lacks a true big league punch. His record of 36-1-1 is impressive but it must be noted that he has only 19 knockouts and they have come against limited opposition, seventeen of his opponents had losing records and the only time he ventured into the top ten he was easily out pointed by Arturo Gatti. This does not make Branco a legitimate top tier opponent and most in the boxing community view him as little if any threat to Cotto.

Now word is coming out that Cotto and Paulie Malignaggi are considering fighting one another in June. This would appear to send a clear cut message to anyone who enjoys watching Miguel Cotto fight, Team Cotto evidently have their own doubts about his greatness. Malignaggi has a heavyweight mouth and a flyweight punch, no wins over anyone remotely close to being a top ten fighter and only five knockouts in twenty one fights. 

Other than a nice payday,and only then if it were held in New York or Puerto Rico, would there seem to be any reason for this fight to take place at this stage of Cotto's career. The Junior Welterweight division is too talented to use the excuse that they can't find a big fight. Names like Tszyu, Witter, Harris and Castillo are the types of fighters that would go anywhere to get a shot at a title - even if it is the WBO version.

The Cotto people need to realize that this is boxing and sometimes your fighter may be on the receiving end of a good shot, while his last three fights were the toughest of his career, they all had the same common denominator-Miguel won them all.

When hurt Cotto shows an amazing ability to focus on what he has to do and when hurt he continued to let his hands go, the old saying that a fighter is never more dangerous than when he is hurt is definitely true when talking about Miguel Cotto.

So the new year begins and we hear Cotto-Branco and Cotto-Malignaggi and not Cotto-Hatton or Cotto-Mayweather, this could be Cotto's loss as well as boxing's. There is universal agreement that Cotto could one day dominate anyone from 140 to 154 but unless his management team feels the same it will never happen. 

Cotto is too talented to waste his time with the Brancos and Malignaggis of the world. If he wanst to be his country's next Wilfredo Gomez or Felix Trinidad, he will have to fight the best as they did, not become a paper champion more concerned with impressing himself and less concerned with living up to his talent.