Well being 'only' 29 years old doesn't say much by itself. Vargas was one of the oldest 28 year olds I have seen.
Well we haven't seen any evidence of him being shot, so I don't know where this is coming from. What happened is he faced 3 very tough fighters - Margarito, Clottey, and Pacquiao. That's what happened. Until we see how he looks against Foreman, nobody knows what his condition is.
Never underestimate a true warrior champion. This guy has more heart then most, and power & skills for days. I say he beats angulo easy at 154. He'd be smarter to fight PW at 147 where cotto would prolly beat him due to weight drain and PW's walk foward style vs. cotto punching power. Martinez however would be a very difficult fight and cotto should prolly avoid such a poor draw, awkard fighter.
Well, it's coming from a big fan of his that has watched his fights from 2005 on. I bet I can see things about him that you can't. And I wasn't talking about him being shot, more like faded. My point was that age alone can't tell you much about a fighter's condition. Anyway, the question was whether he can become 'the man' in a division, and sadly I don't think he can, but I would love to see him bounce back with a couple good wins. I agree we have to see how he does vs Foreman first, before we draw more definite conclusions.
I'm not prepared to say Cotto is shot right now but I don't think he is quite the same anymore. He has been in some grueling fights during his career and some of them very recently and they do start to take their toll. Getting with Steward should be a good move and we'll know more after the Foreman fight as to what he has left. If he's close to the Cotto of old then he can become the top guy at 154. Thats a division that has a lot of solid guys but is lacking the marquee fighters(if Martinez and Williams stay at 160).
In Manny Steward, we trust. But, I doubt, he will be the same ever again. Usually after a fighter receives a beating like Cotto did, he is never the same.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission provided the wraps for the Margarito/Cotto fight. People really need to stop parroting viscious gossip.
I am a huge, huge fan of Cotto. The guy is without a doubt my favorite active fighter today. But i dont see it. UNLESS... and that is a big unless, manny and him can get himself back to his vintage form, tight combos, good bodywork, stay composed and disciplined. He is far from the Cotto that dissected mosley and pounded quintana, he is sloppier, less confident, loses his discipline in the ring more, doesnt put combos together like he did, doesnt work the body like he used to, loses composure, and hes more stiff. And on top of that he needs to change his stamina drastically. Now, that is me putting aside my obvious affection (no homo lol) for cotto to critic where he is right now, and just be real with how i think he is at the moment. It doesnt effect his standing with me, but it does effect how he will do in the future if he doesnt fix these. obviously this is just IMO But, that being said.... i would love to see him return to the top. I still think it will be hard, as Kirkland is returning soon and i see that as just a flat out bad matchup for Cotto regardless, given the size difference. And Martinez would have to stay at 160. Basically, i just would rather see Cotto go back to 147. If he can return to form (a big if) then he is still a major player... and a rematch with mosley, margarito, pac, and a fight with mayweather could all still be in line. I will be rooting for Cotto win or lose, rain or shine, and i hope he can add at least one more chapter to his already exciting career.
Cotto's downfall started when he and his uncle started falling out. After that he virtually had to train himself. His corner was no good and a fighter needs an extra pair of eyes during the fight to see mistakes he or his opp is making, openings for him to attack, etc, these are things he can't see from a 1st person point of view. He was virtually all alone. Plus you need a good trainer to come up w/ a good game plan again he did not have one. Also in the Clottey fight I don't think he took that much punishment. It was the alwful cut that made it look like he took a lot of punishment, but he did not. Go back look at the punch-stats and you'll see Clottey did not trhow that many punches. Cotto went on the defensive for most of the fight because he could not see. So I do't think Clottey inflicted alot of punishment on Cotto. Regarding a good trainer, this is a perfect example, A good trainer would of realized Cotto won the first 4 rds and would of lobbied to have the fight stopped on the cut. The fight would of gone to the score cards and Cotto would of won and would not of had to gone through what he went through. But he was all alone and a stupid decision was made.