Many are suggesting that Cotto will be offered sizable offers to extend his career beyond tomorrow. The four-weight world champion has stated that he has no interest in returning to the squared circle and furthermore says he will remain one of the few champions to hang up the gloves on his own terms.
“I don’t need money,” Cotto said prior to a press conference Thursday for his fight against Sadam Ali on Saturday night. “I don’t need money. My father, he did the right things, he put the money in the right place.
“We are enjoying stability financially. I passed through a lot of tough moments in boxing, you know? And I’ve been here for 25, 26 years, and at the end of the road, the only thing that moves me to do the best always (there) was my family.”
“It’s time for me to be with them, no matter who’s coming, with the amount of money that they want [to pay me]. I don’t need money.”
Many fighters return to the sport after declaring their retirement, given their limited earning power elsewhere. Cotto has assured his fans he will not fall into the same pitfalls.
“That’s why they return,” Cotto said. “I [won’t] because I had in my life this guy who decided to be a father. He was everything in my life. He was the guy who put his best effort [into it], no matter if I got mad or not. ‘I’m going to do what I have to do for your benefit.’ That was his [mindset].”
“When I was [21] years old, after I suffered my injury in my shoulder when I make my rehab, my first fight was February something, 2002,” Cotto said, referring to a second-round stoppage of Joshua Smith in January 2002.”
“The next Monday, my father told me, ‘Put some clothes on. We are going to go somewhere.’ [I said], ‘Somewhere to do what?’ ‘Just put your clothes on and I’ll let you know when we’re close to the place.”
“We arrived (at) a branch of Popular Bank in Puerto Rico. And he told me that in my first year as a professional I showed him that I was not able to save money.”
“He’s not going to let me throw away the future of my kids, of his grandsons. And we’re here in this branch because we are going to open an account where for besides depositing money, you are going to need another signature. This is going to be mine.”
“I was so mad. That was 15 years ago. Today, all I can feel for my dad is thanks. I’m so thankful right now because of him because he had the courage to step in front of me and told me what I really needed to hear, no matter if I like it or not.”
“Because of that, I am the man I am right now. I have the stability in my family right now because (of) my father, he had the courage to do what it takes to make me walk always on the right path,” Cotto concluded.
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