How close is he? He is a 3 weight champ now. He has some very nice wins and has only lost to best in Pac and to a fighter alot of people think loaded his gloves for the fight. I would say he needs to rematch and beat Marg and then win against either Pac or Floyd. Then i would say hes a ATG.
I would like to see Cotto in the HOF and I do think he will get there. Just remember reading some articles before the Foreman fight regarding Cotto getting into the hall and some had their doubts. If he can win some more good fights (Margarito, Angulo) there won't be any doubt
He'd have to beat Martinez, Williams, and either Pac or Mayweather imo. A rematch win vs Margo wouldnt hurt.
A win over Williams looks good now but believe when I say 5 years from now a win over Williams is worth crap. Fighting and beating Martinez now brings a lot more value to Cotto's legacy than a win over Williams.
He's probably done enough to win over the vote of even the most ardent skeptics among the BWAA (or those of future incarnations of it, depending on when he becomes eligible). As for all-time great status? He needs to avenge at least one loss, and/or put together a handful of wins better than any of the ones he already has (ie beat Martinez and Mayweather, or even Williams and Berto). The standard is set very high to become an all-time great.
I can't see him becoming an ATG. Sorry, I just cannot picture it. If he was to beat PBF or Pacman then it would be a damn good start - just can't see it happening. If he was to hang around and clean up 154 for the next 4-5 years, then yeah he could do it.
So you think P-Willy's career will start to go on a downward trajectory? I can't say i disagree...he gets hit too much and has too many basic flaws. For Cotto tho, I think he has to beat a couple of the established top guys at 154 right now (regardless of how their careers turn out) and beat one of the two atg's at 147 to be an atg himself.
This has me a little confused. Do you mean that in 2015, having beaten Williams in 2010 won't look impressive in hindsight as his whole career will have been written off as hype after he goes bust...or do you mean that beating Williams in 2015 won't be a huge accomplishment because of how much he'll have degraded by then?
If the boxing hall of fame's standards weren't so damn low and pathetic Cottoe wouldn't make it by a long shot. The only way he'd get into the hall of fame would be by buying a general admission ticket like the rest of the public. As far as Cottoe becoming an all time great:rofl
Personally, I don't think he has of yet done enough to be a HOF. Close but just not quite yet. I know there are other fighters in the HOF who are not as talented but thats a whole different topic. And I agree for him to be an ATG I think he would have to be fighters that are also ATG's and I don't think he has that kind of ability especially post Margo. I would say beast Martinez, Williams, Margo and then either avenge Pac or have an all out war trilogy with Pac/Mayweather. Unfortunately, even then his ATG status would still depend on what Williams/Martinez/Marg do with the rest of their careers. Thats why it is so hard to evaluate now.
the former it will be compared to Lacy/Calzaghe in that yes Calzaghe was the underdog and beating Lacy would be huge at the time but many look back at it now as a dismal win. thats just my prediction as to how William's career will roll down.
He must beat williams,margo,dzinzuruk etc. I believe he also needs to unify the light middleweight division.