Miguel Cotto is widely considered to be one of the best fighters of his generation.
The Puerto Rican legend had an outstanding professional career which spanned for 16 years between 2001 and 2017, where he became a world champion in four weight classes.
Cotto got the better of a number of highly ranked fighters during his prime years, racking up victories over the likes of Zab Judah, Shane Mosley and Sergio Martinez amongst many others.
He did suffer his fair share of defeats along the way however, falling short to a handful of generational greats including Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao and reigning undisputed super-middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez.
In a round of ‘Best I Faced’ with The Ring Magazine, Cotto made no mistake in revealing retired two-weight world champion Randall Bailey as the hardest puncher that he ever crossed paths with during his career.
“This guy Randall Bailey, in my first title defence back in 2004. He caught me with a good right hand but I handled it well and I did my job.”
Cotto clashed with Bailey at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas back in December 2004, defeating the American via sixth round stoppage to make the first defence of his WBO light-welterweight title.
Bailey held world honours at 140lbs and 147lbs, and also shared the ring with fighters such as Mike Jones, Devon Alexander and Juan Urango.
His career ended with a record of 46 wins, 9 losses and 1 no contest, with 37 of his victories coming by knockout. Cotto isn’t the only one to praise Bailey for his power, with ex-welterweight champion Jeff Horn also declaring him as the biggest puncher he ever fought.
