George Willis

George Willis

Boxing

Miguel Cotto out to snap two-fight skid

Will a change in trainers help Miguel Cotto regain what made him one of boxing’s most feared fighters? Or is he searching for an answer that isn’t there?

Cotto, a three division world champion from Puerto Rico, will learn the answer tonight when he faces Connecticut-based Delvin Rodriguez in a 12-round junior middleweight bout in Orlando, Fla. HBO will televise the match.

Cotto will try to end a two-fight losing streak that includes dropping unanimous decisions to Floyd Mayweather in May 2012 and Austin “No Doubt” Trout last December at Madison Square Garden. Cotto hired Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach to work with him for this fight, replacing Pedro Diaz, who had tutored him for his last three fights, including his big win over Antonio Margarito in 2011.

Cotto has trained a Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles and both have nothing but good things to say about the union.

“Sometimes you need changes,” said Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs). “I feel completely comfortable with Freddie in my corner.”

Roach, who has worked with a long list of world champions, including Manny Pacquiao, wants Cotto to be more active and go to the body more.

“I watched the Trout fight and we talked about why he thought he lost that fight,” Roach said. “He thought he wasn’t busy enough and I want to bring back that work to the body — his bread and butter. That’s what got him to where he is today. I am not going to change him of course because he is a great fighter as he is. We just need a reminder of the fundamentals of boxing.”

Cotto has gone the way of Oscar De La Hoya and others who frequently changed trainers during the careers. He says he wants to finish his career “with Freddie on my side,” but that could depend on how things go against Rodriguez (28-6-3, 16 KOs) a native of the Dominican Republic. Rodriguez is best known for his two brutal bouts with Pawl Wolak. He lost to Trout in June 2012 but has won twice since to get a shot at Cotto.

“This fight motivates me more than ever to face a true champion, a true warrior,” Rodriguez said. “This fight will really show what I have and bring out the best in me. For me it’s now or never. I admire Cotto as a fighter and respect him as a person. But on fight night, that goes out the door.”

Rodriguez, at 5-foot-10 ½, is 3 ½ inches taller than Cotto and will enjoy a 3-inch reach advantage. He’ll have to use his jab to keep Cotto from getting to his body.

“I’m taller, so it works for me to stay on the outside and keep Cotto on the end of my punches,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve got a longer reach, which I intend to use.”

Cotto, who will turn 33 this month, might have to call it a career should he lose a third straight fight.

“We are in a must-win situation for sure,” Roach said. “That’s why we are working so hard.”

Cotto-Rodriguez is part of a split-site triple-header on HBO that also features Wladimir Klitschko making the 16th defense of his heavyweight championship against Alexander Povetkin in Moscow. Klitschko, the IBF/WBO/WBA and Ring Magazine champion, hasn’t lost since 2004 in compiling a record of 60-3 with 52 knockouts. Povetkin is 26-0 with 18 KOs.

Tickets priced from $300 to $50 remain available for the Nov. 2 boxing card at Madison Square Garden Theater, where Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (27-0, 24 KOs) will defend his WBO middleweight championship against Curtis Stevens (25-3, 18 KOs).

Timothy Bradley, who faces Juan Manuel Marquez in a pay-per-view bout on Oct. 12 in Las Vegas, said he has been getting treatment for “five months” after suffering a concussion in his last fight, against Ruslan Provodnikov last March.

“It took me two months just to get back to normal,” said Bradley, who earned a unanimous decision, but was rocked repeatedly in the bout.