First of all, a good, quality performance by both guys. I scored it 8-4 Canelo. Had it even after 8, gave Canelo the last four. It was a good show, no clinches, no fouls. very little holding, no whining to the ref. Two very good fighters. Canelo has a lot of skills, good heart, EXCELLENT defense, (one of the best in the world right now, whenever pale, redheaded guys get hit they bust up), good ring generalship, moving forward, the guy has one major problem; he can't break an egg. If I'm De La Hoya I don't put him in with GGG without giving him a fight at "the real" 160 limit, to test him. Maybe he's weight drained. He is unloading on a blown-up jr. Middleweight for 12 rounds and can't hurt him. He has the skill to beat GGG but he just can't hit hard enough. A guy with that level of skill will win some at 160, but a guy like Eubank who is 6-1 and powerful, probably knocks him into next week, eventually. You can't slip every punch.
The first 6/7 rounds were solid in terms of skill and technical ability. But Cotto tired quickly and Canelos output was low as usual. Great fight though. I will have to add that Canelo beats Eubank jr at this point quite handily. Eubank has been tested once and lost..
I think it's pretty tough to hurt or ko a mobile fighter like Cotto especially if you're not a pressure fighter like Canelo. I think Canelo showed too much respect, he was content with scoring clean, crisp shots, busting up Cotto in the process. Overall, it was a fun, entertaining, tactical fight, which is rare in boxing. Most tactical fights not really fan friendly, this one was. Worthy of a rematch.
Good, interesting fight fought at a high level. I'd have loved to see more urgency (particularly in the last 4 rounds), but at least it was miles better than the Pac-May sparring match. I had it Canelo 8-4. I couldn't find enough for a Cotto draw or win, so even if the official scores were a bit wide, the right man won. The 10 point must can make fights seem more lopsided than they were some times, but this was no robbery.
Rematch would be interesting, but I'd rather see Bradley-Cotto and Canelo-Golovkin at this point. There's been enough attention on Canelo-Golovkin so I'm not going to bother to pitch that. But Bradley-Cotto is a fight that seems to be gaining a little traction, and I hope that continues. It's a great matchup of the two near-elites of the weight range (that's no insult- they're great, just not Floyd or Manny great) of this generation. Both can box quite well, and Bradley's still got enough dog in him to lure the fight out of Cotto and the conditioning to press him for a full 12. It'd be one of the best fights of 2016. :deal
I agree except no need for a rematch, other than to see if Canelo can stop him. As a fan of Cotto, I wouldn't want him taking that beat down though.
Canelo did stiffen the legs of Cotto a couple of times, but, he didn't follow it up. Cotto is a tough guy and usually gets put down/stopped by accumilation so i wouldn't say that Canelo "couldn't crack an egg" because he didn't KD Cotto. If he fought with more urgency he could have stood a chance of getting Cotto out of there.
Canelo doesn't have ko power but he can earn your respect. Being a boxer-puncher, his instinct seems to be to step back after throwing a hard shot/combination. He only steps back in when his opponent is noticeably hurt. If a guy is stunned, by the time he's stepped back, he's lost the vital half-second when he could follow up and go for the finish. If Canelo stayed in the pocket or fought more on the front-foot, he could score more tko's but he would also leave himself a lot more open for counters.
Atlas vs. Roach. That could make for a nice build up as well. Wonder if Bradley has more in his tank to tire Cotto out and take this one. That would probably mean Cotto's retirement however.