Very true, not many will beat Sugar Shane by just trying to outwork him... Cause not many people can outwork him haha. One thing people assume about Shane, is that he has good defense, which is very wrong...He has fast hands, not good defense.. Shane has good feints though, and his pawwing jab/very heavy overhand right messes with people.. If Shane has anything good that relates to defense its his footwork, but still he uses it more in an aggressive style.. I think Cottos biggest problem is gonna be the first 4-5 rounds, and dealing with Shanes speed, of course.
It was a very good fight, although Cotto has changed for the better. He is now a much more effective pressure fighter, and sits down on his punches more. Still a terific combination puncher. Still very quick. He definitely hasn't got worse. Its just harder to look good against better opposition. His defense is NO WHERE NEAR as bad as people try to make out. He is just offensively very active, and when you throw to the body it leaves your head open.
Thats the biggest change IMO. he used to box more at the begining of his career, but he didn't sit down on his punches the way he does now. His pressure wasn't as effective either.
He's becoming more of a relentless pressure fighter and more of a bull. He still has a great jab, he just doesn't get on his feet much. I'd like to see him, more than anything, move his head more.
Cotto's always been a boxer-puncher. I always believed that he would have fought Jose Luis Castillo that way at 140 when the fight was been talked about. Cotto adapts to the situation. His last few fights he has just been on ass kicking mode.
I would agree with that completely. The changes he's made have been for the better, but they've left him with his guard down often as he throws ruthless body shots. If he got into the habit of becoming elusive with his head, he could avoid some punishment... even deter his opponent from throwing, for fear of missing and getting crunched to the midsection.
I think he tends to start a little slowly now and can lose a few rounds early on but he uses that left hook to the body so well, which helps him out in the later rounds as it tends to slow most guys down.
Yep, early he would throw faster but softer punches, now he doesn't even really sit down, he pushes forward!
Yep. As long as he continues to cultivate his body attack and doesn't neglect it in the future at any point, he'll never have to worry about late rounds.
What impresses me most about Cotto other than punching power and his body punches are... 1. His ability to deal with speed 2. His versatility in the ring
I am impressed with his under rated technical skills. He is very versatile as you said, and I feel that at 147 he now has the higher work rate that he needs to beat the top guys.
Cotto has always been a versatile fight - he can box or brawl. It just so happens that at 147 he has faced 3 guys who like to box. He has thus had to hunt them down.
Go to time 1:19 of the 3rd round!!! that combo was so text book man..Cotto don't put it together with that kind of speed anymore! I think he was much more crisp earlier on his career...he has definitely leaned towards battering his opponents now a little bit and alittle less on his timing and counters..But he can still fight fine because there hasn't been a drastic change.
Exactly that can be one of the major reasons as well..He has had to face 2 southpaws and hes really had to close that gap ruthlessly in the manner he has..When he fights an orthodox fighter again he may be able to revert to the crisp counter inside shots that he used to do at 140.