Is it me or is this guy just plain dumb in the ring. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see that the most effective way of fighting the shell defense is to lure him out then counter him (you cant attack and block punches at once), but cotto proceeded to do exactly as i predicted just hammer away at the guard, no subtlety no feints he got eaten up inside by clottey who clearly landed the more effective shots. Couple this with the margo fight plan makes me really doubt his ring intelligence seeing how margo was dismantled so easily by mosley. Thoughts?
He sit's in the back of the small bus w/Boxing head gear...lol (JK) Nah dude has a good IQ, his defensive skills are made to look a lil' shakey based on his willingness to fight on the backpeddle while giving up his chin while doing it.
I don't know what you saw man, but Cotto did his best work in there in the 4th and 6th rounds where he was standing toe-to-toe with a Clottey and banging on the inside. Particularly in the 6th where he had him on the ropes where Joshua is prety much an easy target because all he does is sit there and block punches. Cotto should've realized that and pressed forward the entire time instead of switching back and forth from boxer, to puncher, to boxer again.
I agree. People don't seem to realise that once Cotto got cut he CHOSE to box Clottey. He had him hurt in the sixth and whenever he had Clottey on the ropes he backed off to dab at his eye. He didn't wanna get caught on the inside during a trade as he would not have seen anything coming on his left side. I think had he not been cut, Cotto would have TKO'd Clottey. For those who doubt it, watch the fight again and see if you feel the same way.
if you wanna pull rank over it whats the point in the forums. The point is to discuss the fight. The guys supposed to be in many peoples eyes a top P4P fighter yet his defense and ring intelligence is poor. Nothings changed since margarito same old cotto.
Cotto obviously has strong beliefs about what he does and does not do inside the ring. For example, Cotto could clinch a lot more to neutralize his opponents - like in his fight with Margo - but he didn't. He's acknowledged he doesn't like this type of fighting. It's commendable, but not the smartest strategy. His boxing morals (just made that up) effect his performance IMO. He should be clinching more after getting off good body shots on the inside. Cotto has decent ring IQ imo; he's already shown he's versatile. Boxing when he needs to, and slugging it out when it's called for. There was a time when everyone thought Cotto was one dimensional, and that he couldn't fight on the back foot; he's proven he can (Mosley fight comes to mind). I think the cut in the Clottey fight seriously inhibited his ability to show something more.....and it's also clouding people's perceptions about Cotto's ability. His boxing IQ is just fine.
Cotto relies on his chin and dodging a little too much for my taste, he showed how effective it can be against Margarito in those first few rounds where he was clowning him but unless you're prime Roy Jones Jr or Joe Calzaghe, sooner or later you're going to tire and those shots are going to find you. He needs to tighten up his glovework in defense, he's so wide open to shots coming straight through the pipe that I'm impressed he's managed to forge such a career to this point. His Ring IQ isn't as high as the Hopkins, Calzaghes of Floyd Mayweathers of the world but remember each of those grew into that role - Hopkins as he got older, Calzaghe as his hands got destroyed and Floyd as he went up the weight - all of them at one point or another were just as bravado orientated as Cotto. Cut over the eye or not, until he fixes that susceptibility to the uppercut and the shot coming straight through the middle - he's going to have issues.
Exactly, not all have the tools to apply different strategies otherwise all of them will adopt Ali's style or Leonard's and be successful.
I would put ring IQ as one of Cotto's strong points. He fought a tacticallly perfect fight against Mosley and Margarito, despite the results.
How did he fight a tactically perfect fight against Margarito?, he made SO many mistakes in that one I could give you a long list.