140 Miguel Cotto vs Lucas Mathysse

THAT WOULDA BEEN A WAR!! 50/50 for me

 

Mathysse by Murder and when Bayless stops the fight, Boricuas will call him an awful ref and claimed he stopped it too early.

 

What if Smoger was the ref??

 

If Cotto could get past the multiple knockdowns from Torres, I'm confident he could box his way through most of the rounds behind his jab and use his superior skills on the inside to attack the body and limit Mathysse's range. He probably stuns Cotto and might drop him, but there's a gulf in class.

 

There were still people claiming that Smoger stopped Matthysse-Peterson too early after Lucas splattered him like a bug on a windshield

 

Cotto is far more skilled and well-schooled, but Matthysse's power is downright stupid and Cotto was very shaky at the weight. I could see either guy winning (Matthysse by knockout or Cotto by decision), but I tend to think a stronger Matthysse gets Cotto hurt and finishes him off after a couple knockdowns.

 

Cotto at 140 wasn't as refined and was willing to exchange a lot and his chin was also shaky. I think Matthyse eventually gets to him.

 

That would be a more dangerous fight to Cotto than it would have been for Matthysse. Cotto got rocked pretty hard by Torres and Corley, he was out on his feet in both of those fights. He did come back to win by TKO, but Matthysse would be a much taller order both in terms of taking his punches, and trying to rally back and stop him like he did to every one else who hurt him at 140.

Cotto is a beast offensively, he has always been a very good fighter when it comes to offense. But man, his defense sucks, and has always sucked.

I'd root for Cotto, but think Matthysse wins that one.

 

Funnily enough, I think that its Torres' crudeness and relatively unorthodox style that gave Cotto a lot of problems, and that he could actually find it easier to do with someone like Matthysse, who is pretty well schooled.

Matthysse does everything by the book. He cuts the ring off correctly, feints well (to both head and body), mixes up his attacks well, throws almost every punch correctly and - unlike Torres - seems to have excellent punch resistance. Torres was a damn good fighter and a bit under-rated nowadays IMO. I'm probably in a minority here in believing that he arguably hits as hard as Lucas, but he did it in a different fashion. Trying to read his attacks was difficult and it's sometimes easier to read someone who is well schooled and does everything right, especially when you're a fundamentally sound fighter like Cotto.

I suppose an example I could give is when Nacho Beristein used the term "wildcat" to describe the pre Welterweight Pacquiao. I'm sure you already know, but basically he said that Pacquiao's former, unorthodox style made him impossible to read and you couldn't prepare for what was coming at you because even Pacquiao himself didn't know what he was going to do. He said the 147 version is technically better and more fundamentally sound and that someone as intelligent as JMM would find this much easier to deal with, because he could read his attacks a split second earlier and nullify them. He said this before their 3rd fight and, IMO, it turns out he was correct.

This is a very difficult one to call though. Cotto showed immense vulnerability at 140 but showed extreme heart on multiple occasions. He also had a rubbish haircut. I don't think he fought anyone as good as Lucas at 140 though, and he came very close to losing against some pretty average fighters. His chin looked shaky and he definitely struggled to make weight. Lucas is probably about the same size and I don't think Cotto could physically bully him like he did to others at the weight. Matthysse spars with Sergio Martinez afterall! One thing that nobody ever seems to mention is how Miguel seemed to neglect throwing his best punch after probably the Jennings fight. At 140 his left hook to the body was one of the most devastating punches in the sport and physically and mentally broke many a man. I've never seen Lucas take a sustained body attack so it'd be interesting to see how he dealt with Miguel's. Cotto would have to get in close to land the lead left to the body though so if I were Lucas I'd look to counter this with a short right hand upstairs and make Miguel wary of throwing it.

Whilst Cotto was difficult to read, we know what we're getting with Lucas. Determination, relentless pressure, a high work-rate where no punch is wasted and every shot is either thrown to knock you out or to set up a KO shot. I really don't see Miguel stopping Lucas, I have to be honest. I think either Miguel gets off the floor to win a close decision or Matthysse wears him down, the weight drain kicks in and an absolutely spent Cotto who's given it everything gets a merciful stoppage from the ref or corner, without being out on his back.

 

The first two lines of this post are what I think about the two stylistically.

You basically took all the thoughts out of my head and wrote them out here. Great post. Especially about wondering how Lucas would handle body work from someone like Cotto.

Good breakdown. Cotto's vulnerability at 140 is a big liability against someone as accurate and hard-hitting as Mathysse, but he's so skilled and resilient that you can't count him out.

 

Cotto only showed vulnerability after he outgrew the weight class and tried sticking around anyway. I'd say he was very solid anytime before 2005 at LWW.

I like Matthysse, but Cotto would absolutely light him on fire. Different level of fighter. People forget what a bad dude Cotto was. Matthysse is similar to Maussa, a slightly awkward power puncher who swings for the hills. Corley, Abdulaev (badass!), Sosa, Pinto, Ceballos, Bazan... Cotto has a LOT of high quality wins at the weight. Miguel just plain beat up the best version of Zab Judah I've ever seen in the ring, and that version of Judah would be biiiig trouble for Lucas. There's really no reason at all to think Matthysse wins this fight except fandom. Remember Humberto Soto landed some excellent flush shots against him, he just couldn't hurt him. No power at 140.

My fantasy fight: Matthysse v. Mayorga.

 

Lucas by ko

 

:good

Tough fight to call, neither man could be counted out. The only thing I'm sure of us that it'd be a great fight to watch.