 [dramatic music]
 ♪ ♪
 male announcer: The following
 is a presentation
 of HBO Sports.
 [soft instrumental music]
 [crowd cheering]
 - Move over, "Tito" Trinidad.
 There's a new superstar
 in Puerto Rico.
 ♪ ♪
 [crowd cheering fades in]
 - Much of the crowd standing,
 as Cotto continues...
 - It's over.
 - The vicious assault.
 ♪ ♪
 He doesn't want anymore,
 or so it appears,
 and Arthur Mercante
 stops the fight.
 Big left-hand by Cotto!
 ♪ ♪
 - Still undefeated,
 Miguel Angel Cotto!
 ♪ ♪
 - It's like hitting
 a brick wall
 that continues to close in.
 - Margarito getting
 the better of it here.
 - [stammers]
 - Cotto's hurt! Cotto's hurt!
 - Miguel Cotto getting
 beaten up by another man.
 - Man, yeah,
 it's over, it's over.
 - He's exhausted,
 and it's almost over.
 And Cotto goes to a knee!
 And Evangelista Cotto's
 gonna throw in the towel.
 An epic fight
 with an epic conclusion.
 ♪ ♪
- [grunting]
[crowd chanting]
Cotto! Cotto! Cotto! Cotto!
 ♪ ♪
 - Miguel Cotto
 has made every effort
 in the buildup to this fight
 to keep saying,
 "This isn't about
 all that other stuff.
 It's just about,
 'We're going to fight.'"
 ♪ ♪
 Cotto going to the body.
 Down goes Martinez!
 ♪ ♪
 The biggest night
 in Miguel Cotto's career.
 ♪ ♪
 - You said that
 you wanted to retire,
 uh, at the end of this year.
 - What you think?
 - If--if you're up for it,
 I think we'd all like
 to see you again.
- One more in December then.
That will be all.
[crowd cheering, yelling]
 ♪ ♪
- Hello, I'm Jim Lampley.
Welcome to "Miguel Cotto:
A Retrospective."
In our more than four decades
of boxing coverage here at HBO,
it's been our privilege
to cover hundreds of fighters,
but only a generous
handful of them
from the very beginning of
their professional careers
until the moment of
their ultimate departure
from the sport,
their retirement.
With Miguel Cotto
having announced
that his December 2 fight
will be his last,
he joins the ranks of fighters
whose accomplishments in boxing
have been special for fans,
special for the sport itself,
and special for all of us
who've worked with him
at the network
where he's made his home.
Soon, I'll be joined here
on the set by Miguel,
but as we embark now
on a journey through
his entire professional career,
we take you back to his entry
into professional boxing,
after the Sydney Olympics
in 2000,
beginning in 2001,
a career that began with all
the fanfare you would expect
for a decorated
Puerto Rican amateur,
moving forward toward
his professional destiny.
[crowd chattering]
 - Now,
 let's get ready to watch
 the hottest young prospect
 in boxing, Miguel Cotto.
 We're on an island
 here in Puerto Rico,
 which has produced
 so many great names in boxing,
among them, Wilfredo Gómez,
"Tito" Trinidad,
two true immortals.
 Is Cotto headed toward
 being on that list?
 - That's the idea,
 that's the hope,
 but it is a very high
 standard to meet.
 - Boxing is one of the most
 sought after sports
 for the people of Puerto Rico.
They have a special interest
and a passion for it.
 I've heard for the first time
 of Miguel Cotto
 back when he was
 a amateur boxer,
 and he represented Puerto Rico
 in the Olympics.
There were a lot of
expectations with him.
 In the early 2000s,
 Felix "Tito" Trinidad
 still dominated the scene.
 Trinidad was
 a people's person.
 Trinidad would be
 joking around,
 shaking hands,
 taking pictures,
 and Miguel is
 a more serious person,
more professional.
Just, "Uh, I'm here
to do my job."
At first, it was--they didn't
respect that of Miguel.
They thought that
he had to be like Trinidad.
 But in time,
 they came to respect
 how Miguel is,
 his personality,
 and understood.
 Miguel preferred more to speak
 with actions than words.
 - That's a knockdown.
 [solemn music]
 Cotto stretches
 his record to 15 and 0.
- Signature punch was
that left hook to the body.
 That was bread and butter
 for Miguel.
 [dramatic music]
 - Another vicious body shot.
 They say, "Don't fall in love
 with a fighter."
 How could you not fall in love
 with Miguel Cotto's skills?
 This barrage of right hands
 may wind up ending the fight.
 ♪ ♪
 Move over, Tito Trinidad,
 there's a new superstar
 in Puerto Rico.
 While Cotto's
 exploits in the ring
 established his popularity
 in Puerto Rico,
 his ascent to global stardom
 emerged in large part
 from his showdowns
 at Madison Square Garden.
 His hometown is
 Caguas, Puerto Rico,
 but his home court as a boxer
 is New York City.
 This is obviously
 a Miguel Cotto crowd.
 ♪ ♪
 In 2005, he began
 an almost annual tradition
 of fighting on the eve of
 the Puerto Rican Day Parade,
 much to the delight
 of impassioned
 New York audiences.
 - Other Puerto Rican fighters
 fought in New York,
 Trinidad and Gomez,
but Miguel took it
to another level
and people just wanted
 to be a part of
 that tradition.
 - In 2007,
 Madison Square Garden
 played host
 to the most significant
 challenge
 of Cotto's career
 to that point,
 when he squared off
 against Shane Mosley
 for a welterweight title.
 Cotto has energy!
 What a vicious struggle.
 Glory in the Garden.
 Miguel Cotto remains unbeaten.
 ♪ ♪
Now we welcome Miguel Cotto
to this set,
which has been designed,
Miguel,
to commemorate some of the best
and worst moments
of your boxing career.
No great boxing career
goes without having both.
Let's go back to
the very beginning.
How did you get started boxing?
- I was a little--
not a little--a lot overweight,
when I was 11,
and my brothers,
they were boxers at the time.
I decided to start boxing
just to lose weight.
- Did you realize at the time
how deeply involving
an obsession this could become?
- I made my boxing my life,
and here we are.
- Early in your
professional career,
you suffered an accident,
for which I believe
you still have
a titanium rod
in your shoulder.
What happened, and--
and what was its effect
on your career at that time?
- I was driving
from my house to the track
for my morning workout.
 I fall asleep at the wheel,
 and my car, the impact
 from the visual,
and I broke my right humerus
in three parts.
 The doctors told me that
 I had to take a year,
 year and a half,
 to return to boxing,
but six, seven months,
uh, I return
to--to boxing again.
- Then, the early portion
of your career,
you were constantly
being compared to Tito.
Do you think it took Puerto
Rican fans a little while
to accept and adjust
to the fact that
you didn't have Tito's bubbly,
outgoing, uh,
vibrant personality?
- People--
sometimes,
they didn't understand,
but I am who I am,
and I'm not going to change.
You know, I'm just going to be
Miguel, uh, every time.
- You had several fights
before you first appeared
in Madison Square Garden.
Ultimately, that became,
as we mentioned, uh,
kind of a ritual for you
to come back to New York City
at least once a year.
 Were you surprised at
 the emotional lift
 that you got
 from fighting in that arena?
 - If you talk about
 boxing at the Garden,
 at some point, you have to add
 Miguel Cotto
 to the conversation.
I think that
Madison Square Garden
make Miguel Cotto
the boxer he is right now.
- So, it's poetic,
given what the Garden
meant to you,
that you were back there
December 3, 2011,
for what most of the world saw
as a deeply important
revenge fight for you
against Antonio Margarito.
Was it extra meaningful
that that took place
before your crowd
at the Garden?
- All I want for this fight,
for this opportunity,
was showing to the people
that what happened,
what really happened
on our first fight,
they really can't found
a better place
to make this fight.
 [solemn percussive music]
 ♪ ♪
 - So, who was Miguel Cotto
 heading into
 the Margarito fight?
 He was ascending
 the pound-for-pound ranking.
One of the reasons people
wanted to see the fight so much
is it was the two best
147 pounders in the world,
 and you knew,
 given their styles,
it had to be
a great action fight.
 ♪ ♪
 - Cotto is
 a much better boxer,
 much faster,
 much more crisper puncher.
- Because Cotto was this proud,
undefeated champion.
 And he started the fight
 just outclassing Margarito.
But around the fifth
or sixth round,
suddenly, every time
Margarito touched Cotto,
it was leaving a mark,
and it was spooky.
 I mean, we know
 Cotto's heavy-handed,
 and we see him landing
 these titanic shots,
 and they don't seem
 to faze Margarito at all.
The hair-raising part,
I think really,
was that Cotto
eventually knelt.
 Margarito short shots
 on the inside...
 - And Cotto goes to a knee!
- Like, he had enough.
He acquiesced.
And Cotto was such
a proud champion,
especially
an undefeated champion.
 - The punishment
 has accumulated
 to the point where Cotto
 has nothing left.
 - It's over, it's over.
 - And Evangelista Cotto's
 gonna throw in the towel.
 - You don't expect him
 to go out like that.
 You'd expect him
 to go out on his shield.
 Like, you have to
 separate him from his senses.
 But Cotto's sprit
 was broken by Margarito,
and that was,
in a way, hard to watch,
but in a way,
you couldn't look away.
 ♪ ♪
 Cotto was not the same fighter
 after the Margarito loss.
A lot of what made Cotto
such an excellent fighter
was his pride
and his determination.
That was stripped from him.
 - Manny landed a little
 right hook in there,
 and follows up
 by knocking Cotto down!
 Victory for Pacquiao.
 Second loss of Cotto's career.
 - It was career-altering
 for Cotto.
And, of course, after the fact,
when you found out
that Margarito
had hand wraps
that were dipped in something,
suddenly, the Cotto fight
made so much sense.
 - It's probably
 the enormous perception
 that Cotto was
 illegally violated
 in Las Vegas three years ago.
 And they want a form of
 blood revenge tonight.
 - The rematch was about
 Margarito getting
 his comeuppance.
The cheaters never win, right?
Like, he's gonna
really get punished.
And in boxing,
you're not gonna get punished
by getting struck out
or dunked on.
You're gonna get
physically punished.
 - Hard right hand by Cotto.
 - He's doing
 a serious operation
 on Margarito's face right now.
 - Another good combination
 by Cotto.
 He's fighting
 a far different fight now
 than he was fighting in
 round nine of the first fight.
 - Cott's fighting
 as though he doesn't have
 the same fear of
 Margarito's punches
 in their first fight.
 [bell dings]
 - It's over!
 It's over!
 And revenge is sweet!
- I'm sure the win was
very gratifying for Cotto,
'cause again, he got revenge.
You know, he avenged
not only the loss,
but an injustice.
 Whatever this says about
 the human condition,
 there's something
 very satisfying
 about that, I think.
 ♪ ♪
- Just to make clear,
the world knows that
in his next ring appearance,
after he fought you,
Margarito attempted
to enter the ring
with illegal hand wraps
against Shane Mosley
in Los Angeles.
Was prevented from doing so
by Shane's trainer,
Naazim Richardson.
And when he came into the ring,
he was a paper tiger.
Mosley backed him up
from the opening bell,
and ultimately knocked him out.
Based on all that,
do you believe that
Antonio Margarito used
illegal hand wraps against you?
- 100%.
- So, you knew that your career
had probably been
compromised by an illegal act,
 when you were going on
 to fight Manny Pacquiao
 and Floyd Mayweather,
 the two best fighters
 in the sport at that time?
- Probably, but, you know,
I'm here just to...
do my best every day,
and I never stop doing that.
- This was so personal,
and such a crime against you,
that we assume there was
an enormous feeling
of revenge and catharsis
when you knocked him out
in New York in 2011.
- Which was just satisfying.
The most satisfying moment
in my career.
- You're able to be so...
Calm and unaffected
by this particular injustice,
what happened
against Margarito.
You have a very close family.
They're always at ringside.
They're a big part
of your career.
How did Melissa
and the children feel about it?
- I never talk to them
about boxing.
Uh, I have a rule
with myself that
boxing is my work.
I never sit--sit with them
and talk about the fight,
you know, but...
 I know that they enjoyed
 the second one.
 - I know of no fighter
 whose family has been
more demonstratively
supportive
and more constant at
ringside than yours.
We asked them
to talk to us about
what you've meant to them.
 [soft instrumental music]
 - My father has been a fighter
 all my life.
He's been fighting
for 16 years,
and I'm 16 years old.
 I remembered
 going to the track,
 like, waking up
 in the morning, going running.
 The thing that most
 reminds me of it
is the birds in the morning
and the breeze.
 When we went there,
 it was cold,
 and the bird were,
 like, chirping.
 ♪ ♪
 He's practically my idol,
 and I want to follow him.
- As a child, I used to
want to be a boxer too,
like my father,
and I have pictures of me,
dressed up as a boxer.
 Or in the gym,
 like, trying out the gloves
 and all the stuff.
 - I just remember
 him training a lot.
When we went to visit him,
he always tried
to make it fun for us,
 because we didn't--
 we didn't see him for so long.
 People don't understand,
 because all they see is
money and traveling
and all nice things,
but they don't know
of the sacrifices,
the hard stuff
behind all of it.
- [speaking Spanish]
 ♪ ♪
- And I know it's hard--
harder for him
than it is for--
than it is for us,
but the sacrifices
are necessary,
'cause it's his job.
 It's the thing that he loves.
- I don't like
going to the fights.
 For me, I wish
 my dad was invincible.
 I don't wanna watch him,
 like, hurt himself.
 But I love my dad,
 and I wanna support him,
 and I wanna be there always.
- We're part of it.
He's doing it,
because he loves it,
but he's doing it for us,
for his family,
 so we wanna be there
 to support him.
- When the fight starts,
we always want it to end,
like, really, really fast.
 ♪ ♪
 It's a great moment
 when he wins.
 It's a proud moment.
 But it's a bittersweet moment,
because we don't want
the fights to keep going.
- [speaking Spanish]
 ♪ ♪
 - The thing that
 he has taught me,
to believe in what I do,
to do what I love,
and do it no matter what.
- He has taught me
to be strong,
to always be...
 humble.
 - I'm proud of my dad.
Does everything
that he does for us,
and builds a legacy.
 It doesn't matter to me
 that he's very famous.
 All that matters
 to me is that--
 that he's here and well,
 with us.
 ♪ ♪
- These tears,
these are tears which reflect
the depth of what you feel,
watching them say
what they've said
about you, right?
- I'm came from
the best couple...
[shaky breathing]
In the world:
my mom...
and my dad.
 They showed me the way
 I have to be for my kids,
 the things
 I have to be willing
 to do for them.
I've been a boxer for...
[sniffles]
Uh...
20-something years of my life.
And if I'm going to have
any other birthday...
I wait for them.
Any other special date,
I wait for them,
'cause all I want to do
is be for them.
And...
it's my turn...
To show them
what you have to do...
For your family.
- This decision
that you're making,
to retire from boxing,
have you, in your private,
quiet moments,
discussed that
in your conscience
with your father?
- He pass away...
[sniffles]
In, uh, January 3rd,
2010.
He's here.
 He's always somewhere there.
 He's always letting me know
 what I have to do.
 He's always on my mind.
 The best thing
 that I ever had in life...
Was him.
[sniffles]
- And I think you can rest
assured that your father
remains very proud of you
in perpetuity.
I have an emotional sense that,
in these last few years
of your career,
your family expanded by one,
because of the close
relationship you've shown
with Freddie Roach.
Isn't this
the closest relationship
you've had with a trainer,
and what does Freddie
mean to you?
- I never experience
a relationship between
myself and a trainer...
As the one I have
with Freddie today.
 [solemn synth music]
 [hitting punching bag]
 - Punch up! Punch overhand!
 How I linked up
 with Miguel was,
 all of a sudden,
 I get a phone call,
 and he said, "Freddie,
 "I got about
 three fights left in me.
 Can--can you help me?"
And I said,
"Is this really you?"
[chuckles] "Yeah."
Punch up.
 "I'd love to help you."
And it's been a--
a great run for--for us
for--for his last
four or five fights.
- [sharp exhales]
- Fight.
The chemistry was good
between me and Miguel.
 We get along well,
 and he worked hard.
 I like people who work hard.
Uh, a lot of people
didn't expect to see,
uh, us click together
like that right away,
and we--we did.
Nice hook.
 Miguel, he was always
 a good fighter,
 and a very solid guy.
 Good puncher,
 great left hook to the body.
 When we got together,
 and the first thing
 I brought back
 was the left hook, of course,
because that's is--to me,
his best--his best weapon.
 - So, it's finally time
 for our main event:
 Miguel Cotto
 against Sergio Martinez.
- I thought Martinez
was a great fighter for us.
 - Cotto's off to
 a blazing start!
 - Martinez badly hurt, Jim,
 with a left hook!
 - Down goes Martinez.
- Yeah, Madison Square Garden,
uh, putting him down
early like that,
again, I didn't expect it.
 But Miguel was really,
 really taking to heart,
 and his left hook was back.
 - The biggest night of
 Miguel Cotto's career.
[crowd cheering, yelling]
 Freddie Roach and Miguel Cotto
 have been together
 for six fights in all,
 and even though
 they're preparing for
 Cotto's final bout
 with Sadam Ali,
 the bond between fighter
 and trainer will endure.
- You know, this is
a big fight for us,
because it's the last time
 we're gonna see him
 on the big screen TV.
Disappointed in some ways?
Yes, because I'll miss him.
 We'll remain friends forever.
 Miguel's, like, been
 one of the best guys
 in the world to work with.
 He's been in the game so long,
 and he wants to spend
 more time with his family
and be a better father
and just be closer with them.
 I'm really happy,
 because I'm glad that
 he's deciding
 when to say it's over,
not some commissioner,
not some, uh, doctor.
 He's going out
 the way he wants to go out,
 and, um, I--I love that.
 He's a great fighter,
 and he's, like, this nice guy
 deep down inside.
 He's just a really good,
 caring person.
And, uh, people say, like,
"I never saw him smile
in my life,
"and you have
all these pictures
"of you and him together,
and you guys are smiling
the whole time."
 And, uh, I says,
 "I'm glad I could
 bring that out of him."
- Now we're joined on the set
by the most decorated
trainer in boxing,
seven-time trainer of the year,
Freddie Roach,
Freddie, you had trained
against Miguel Cotto.
You took Manny Pacquiao through
his victory against him.
What were your impressions
of Miguel after that fight?
- Um, he was
a very good fighter,
and, um, I think that, uh,
he made a few mistakes
with Pacquiao.
 Uh, he went to the ropes
 a little bit too much
 in that fight,
 and he didn't use
 his left hook quite as much.
What I needed to do, I knew.
I says, "We gotta
keep him off the ropes,
and we've gotta get
that left hook back."
And we started working on that
right away.
- Miguel, you had been trained
by a member of your family;
you had been trained
by a friend;
you had been trained
by the very great,
uh, Emanuel Steward.
What prompted you to choose
to call Freddie up?
- That was after...
uh, two defeats in a row:
 Mayweather and Trout.
 We were asking ourselves
if I had something left
on me in boxing,
and we decided to call Freddie.
He's my savior, you know.
He was the one who...
put Miguel on track again.
I'm sure now that
it was the best decision
I've ever made
in my--in my career.
- As a person
who has chosen to retire,
after this next fight,
you are forgoing
the possibility of
a rematch against
Canelo Alvarez.
Are you disappointed, Freddie,
that you will not be having
a rematch against Canelo?
- Uh, in a lot of ways, yes,
because I thought
we won the first fight.
 His defense was great
 in that fight,
 and I thought
 we outpointed him.
- Miguel, is it
challenging for you
to leave the sport
without going back
 and settling that issue
 against Canelo?
- I have better things to do
after December 2nd.
- Freddie, the opportunity
to be Miguel Cotto's
last professional opponent
was offered to several
big name fighters,
and several turned it down,
so you wind up with
a matchup against Sadam Ali.
What do you think of Sadam Ali?
- Um, I think he's definitely
a challenger.
He's the new generation
coming up,
and I don't like to mix
generations too much like that,
you know, because,
well, he's a lot younger
and has a lot more fire,
and, um, we're gonna
have to be at our best
to beat him, I feel.
 - People knows what Freddie
 and Miguel is capable of.
And we have been
taking Sadam Ali
in a serious way, you know.
We have been doing our things
the best way possible,
and we are going to fight
on December 2nd
the best way possible too.
- Thanks, guys,
for all these insights.
Great professional
prize fighters
make a deep bond
with their audience,
because they take risks
to please them,
because they work
extremely hard
to be the best they can be,
because they match themselves
against other men,
who might lose to them,
but who very well
might beat them as well.
But among the greatest
of those fighters,
there's a deeper
impression that's made,
because through
all of their work
inside and outside of the ring,
they are able to project
their fundamental humanity,
and there's no better example
of that in our sport
than Miguel Cotto.
So, with an eye toward
what it's gonna be like
to miss him when he's gone,
let's take a look at
some of the moments
that have made his career
so memorable.
 You're going to
 see Miguel Cotto
 try to continue
 polishing his image
 as the best young fighter
 in the sport.
 [solemn string music]
 That was just a perfectly
 thrown combination.
 We've said it many times,
 Miguel Cotto
 doesn't just beat you,
 he beats you up.
 Cotto always fights back!
 He doesn't want anymore,
 and Arthur Mercante
 stops the fight.
 Celebration time
 for Miguel Cotto.
 ♪ ♪
 Cotto showing you
 his enormous courage.
 Cotto has nothing left!
 - Does Miguel Cotto still
 really want to fight?
 - This is a tremendous
 physical effort.
 He's making Puerto Rico proud.
 Mexico, Puerto Rico,
 the two best 154-pound
 fighters in the world.
 Cotto comes back with
 the left hook to the body.
 That was the punch that once
 defined Miguel Cotto's career.
 - Cotto is beating
 the hell out of him.
 - It's over!
 And revenge is sweet!
 A sensational performance
 by Miguel Cotto.
 Down goes Martinez!
 The biggest night of
 Miguel Cotto's career.
 ♪ ♪
 Next Saturday, don't miss
 what Miguel Cotto says
 is his last fight.
 He squares off
 against Sadam Ali,
 live on HBO.
 [soft orchestral music]
 ♪ ♪
 announcer: This has been
 a presentation
 of HBO Sports.
