Cotto To Fight Geale - And Few Are Happy

How much things can change in a year.

It's amazing how much things can change over the course of a single year. Just twelve short months ago Miguel Cotto was considered a has-been who was making a last, feeble stab at greatness against a formidable and lauded middleweight champion.

In between then and now, Cotto shocked a lot of people by decimating that champion, Sergio Martinez, in a New York City blowout last June. The love appears to have been short lived, however, for Cotto has done a pretty good job aggravating fans since that time. 

First off, the guy has made it perfectly clear that he has no real interest in facing the fighter who many believe is the real dominant middleweight in the world today. That's right, it's Gennady Golovkin, not Miguel Cotto, who people see as the baddest dude in the middleweight division. The fact that Cotto appears unwilling to at least try to prove everyone wrong is indeed moving many the wrong way.

Then there's the Canelo Alvarez situation. The Mexican star and his promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, have proven to be more than willing to arrange a superfight between the two stars. That fight isn't happening, however, at least not at the moment. And if indications are correct, Cotto is the one to blame. 

Last but not least, there's the weight issue. Middleweights tend to fight at or around 160lbs. That's the standard weight for the division, after all. That doesn't matter to Cotto, however. Being a star (he seems to relish letting people know he's a star), he seems to pretty much get to fight at any weight he wants - while being recognized as a middleweight, nonetheless.

And, as if the public isn't annoyed enough, word comes out today that Cotto will now be facing Daniel Geale on the 71st Anniversary of D-Day. With all due respect to the talented Geale, that doesn't exactly seem like Normandy Beach heroics on Cotto's part. 

Oh well, at least this fight is being aired on HBO. And who knows, maybe Geale will be the one to surprise everyone this time around.