Miguel Cotto Quotes

Jagdish Singh was my basic coach, and he trained me from my very early days in boxing, teaching me the fundamentals of the sport. He was the one who shaped me into a boxer, disciplined me when I required disciplining.

You have 20 fights, you should know what it takes to get yourself ready. If you don't feel like you're ready, you let your coach know 'hey we need to work on a little bit more of this.'

The day I step in the cage with Cyborg, I will be 100% prepared.

Boxing is a hurt game if you can't be at your best, can't be 100 per cent mentally and physically switched on to performing, to win titles, defend titles, defend yourself in the correct fashion, then I don't think you should fight.

There's always going to be people talking so you just have to focus everyday and be the best fighter you can be in the Octagon on the day of the fight.

I'm training and preparing because nothing is predictable in boxing. I'm preparing for those rounds, and if it happens that I get a shot, whatever advantage I have, I will be ready for 12 rounds.

I worry about myself in the ring; I worry about what I can do and how I can dictate a fight.

As everyone in boxing knows, styles makes fights.

It's not just the physical aspect of boxing, it's the whole fighter mentality that has been ingrained in me through the years as a competitive athlete. One of the hardest things you'll ever do is to box - to get into the ring and to face off with somebody whose whole goal is to knock you out, to hurt you, and to be able to fight back.

And then when I went to stay in '68, I can honestly say that I was not focused on my career and on what it took to be a major league pitcher and to be a starting pitcher.

It's less about the physical training, in the end, than it is about the mental preparation: boxing is a chess game. You have to be skilled enough and have trained hard enough to know how many different ways you can counterattack in any situation, at any moment.

I can easily get a gold in the 48 kg. category, but 51 kg., it's difficult because other boxers may have a height advantage.

In order to understand the mindset of a boxer, I needed to become a boxer myself.

I started boxing for exercise, and on the very first day, the trainer got in the ring with me and said, 'Whoever controls the breathing in the ring controls the fight.' I immediately passed out.

People turn professional and they are not running as fast as they did in college because it is a lot different, but I wanted to make sure that I didn't have that kind of transition and always stayed on top.

There are athletes out there trying to get every advantage they can, including things like muscle and low-fat percentages. I feel if I'm the better fighter, I'm the better fighter.

My next fight is always the most important fight, so regardless if I'm fighting for the title or not, I always have to go in there and give everything that I've got.

When I prepare for a fight, I never expect it to be easy. I believe that that would create a chance for me to not give my best in the Octagon.

I train for whatever happens. I'm prepared for wherever the fight goes.

People only see two hours of a tennis match where you're fighting and running and sometimes getting upset. There's a lot more than those two hours. Going out there and playing is actually the easy part.

Saunders didn't beat me. I wasn't battered or shown-up. I made the mistake of not pressing him early, pacing myself too much because it was my first 12-round fight.

I need to continue to be wise, be efficient and prepared for every game that I play leading up to the Olympics.

The learning curve, and the things that you have to adapt to on a daily basis in the UFC, is pretty crazy. It's a huge burden for anybody to have: not just the fighting itself but learning how to deal with the other responsibilities.

Going into a fight with Cyborg, you need to be as on point as possible.

From the very beginning, every time I trained for a fight, I didn't train to beat the guy I was fighting. I trained to beat Anderson Silva.