ALLAN THE MAN

Miguel Cotto is back, or at least that's going to be the hype coming out of tonight's win over Delvin Rodriguez. Recalling the young Cotto of old, the Puerto Rican iceman with the ferocious body attack who made for a scary opponent, Cotto ripped through Rodriguez tonight in just over two rounds, scoring a TKO-3 victory and looking sharp and sensational in the process.

Cotto (38-4, 31 KO) had a pep in his step that hasn't been seen for a while now, and it appears that owes to the new professional relationship with trainer Freddie Roach. Roach, as someone said in the live thread, has his flaws like all trainers do. But when it comes to maximizing a fighter's offensive ability, Roach may have no peer. He said he wanted to see the old Miguel Cotto back, throwing vicious left hooks to the body and wearing out his opponents. He brought that monster back out of the 32-year-old veteran tonight in Orlando.

Rodriguez (28-7-3, 16 KO) is certainly no elite opponent or top contender, but he's always been a tough, solid fighter who could put up a fight in there. He landed some decent shots on Cotto, but again like the Cotto of old, we saw Miguel take those shots and walk through them. He was not deterred at all by return fire. His goal was clear, and written all over his face. This was a seek and destroy mission for Miguel Cotto tonight. Even if you can argue that Frank Santore's stoppage was a bit premature, the referee likely only sped up the process for the rapidly approaching inevitable.

Roach was impressed by the performance, and credited Cotto's work ethic. "From day one until now, he has just become so confident and so ready. He worked so hard. He put the hours in. I'm really happy to be here with him. We're gonna have a lot of big fights after this."

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