Miguel Cotto: Boxing's most underrated jabber - too bad he underrates it too (GIFs)

Miguel Cotto, the fighter most well known for his left hook, especially the one to the body, might be one of the very best jabbers in the entire sport. The problem is: not only the sport itself, but it seems Cotto himself underrates it.

It is a very well timed, crisp, accurate power jab that put Clottey & Gomez down and snapped Pacquiao's head back several times - in fact, it was the only shot Miguel could land regularly the past Saturday, even in those bloody later rounds. He just never was consistent enough. Not that it would've made a difference in the outcome, Pac was unstoppable, but when Cotto did use it, it looked so damn natural.

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Now here's a thing: Cotto is a very good fighter overall, offense, defense, aggression, counters, shot selection, timing, accuracy, movement etc. - but he's not GREAT in any of these areas, he reminds me a bit of De La Hoya, who never really mastered his game to a truly elite level. The most solid weapon in Cotto's arsenal today is the jab, even more successful lately than the left hook, but he refuses to base his entire game on it, I believe because he was more-or-less trained to be a fighter, not a pure boxer - despite having the skills to do that.

For his future success and longetivity (without getting beat to a pulp in a possible Margarito rematch) a BOXERS' TRAINER is needed - and along comes Emanuel Steward, the perfect man for the job. I rarely suggest Manny for anyone ever since he f*cked up Jermain Taylor's game, but Cotto always showed solid skills and a lot of textbook stuff (something Steward loves), and not natural talent/game based on reflexes (something Steward could only mess up). The power jab reminds me of Lennox Lewis' shot, and Steward could teach Miguel how to use 4-5 types of that shot and adjust his entire game to that shot (look at Wladimir - obviously different styles and size, but look at the varied jabs he used in the Chagaev fight masterfully).

I know most people regard Cotto as a warrior, but he always was a mixture of a very well schooled boxer and a passionate, powerful and physical fighter, not always working for his benefit. In my view, Steward could and should use Cotto's gifts and skills to recreate (adjust) his game to be a boxer relying on skills and power coming from accuracy rather than being a boxer-puncher relying on physical strength. There are a lot of mistakes in Cotto's game but I do believe he's one of those intelligent fighters who could learn a lot and improve under the right trainer - but he never had anyone else other than Evangelista and the very green Joe Santiago.

 

his jab is very strong compared to most IMO.....it takes opponents off guard just as it did clottey....they are worried about power shots, and then get hit with this "heavy-handed" jab....I thought in the first round it caught pacquiao off guard, and gave cotto the round...

 

I agree that Steward would be a good choice for Cotto. It's a shame he didn't take him up on the offer when the fight was announced.

 

Shame Cotto never took on DLH , sometimes legacies are helped by luck and timing.

 

One could argue that for almost ever legacy though.

On topic Cotto does have a great jab , it's what got him over against Clottey and Mosley and Manny didnt look to be enjoying them too much either. He is still a very good fighter and with the proper trainer can come back to the top ( assuming he's right mentally ) Pacquaio is a once in a life time phenomenon and its just unlucky to be around at the same time and roughly the same weight he is !

 

thats a good video of his jabs against pac. yes he has an amazing jab. i have never realy seen pacs head snapped back by jabs and i was shocked when it happened. he should have just jabbed and stayed in his shell defense, he would have done much better. The problem is when he did that, pac would throw 5-6 punches and although they would all be blocked, the crowd went crazy as if they were all landing and that can create a bad impression with judges so cotto thought he had to brawl.

 

Of course he has a strong jab as well as a very good left hook the guy is a lefty fighting orthodox.

 

a very strong jab, but he drops it or leaves it out there too much. Its why he got right hooked so much. If he would snap it out and quickly bring it back even on the double up I think he could have simply won the fight on points

 

First round I had Cotto winning and thought he was going to do the same with that jab for the rest of the fight, WRONG. It's clear the ghost of Margo is still haunting him. He mantally fell apart, and that corner was exposed as well. Pac deserves all the credit in the world!

 

Don't know what was worst, the fact he didn't use that jab more, or the fact that the jabs you posted against Pacquiao were not followed by hard straight right hands and left hooks.

 

I have to agree with your statement about Cotto underutilizing his jab. I was at the Pac-Cotto fight and I was talking to the guy next to me and I told him that I believed that Cotto could win the fight off of the jab and he just failed to employ it in the fight. Not to take anything away from Pac cause Pac has earned my utmost respect and admiration.

But Cotto has fallen into the DLH jab-ittis; when a boxer with a great jab just stops using the jab.

 

Yeah, he has a good stiff jab. His upper cut also found the mark a couple of times. Unfortunately, he couldn't handle the Pacquiao flurries. Even if he blocked or eluded most of the punches, one or two would find the mark. His face was evidence of that.

 

Agreed. Definitely needs 2 use it a bit more & follow up with the power punches

 

Yeah man cottos jab is beautiful! Its even more effective cause he has strong and fast feet!