Everyone knows I love Cotto. I watched the HBO rebroadcast of the Judah fight last night and couldnt believe the tenacity he showed that night. He has turned into a pit bull- once you put that dog on someone you cant take him off until the job is done. A part of me thinks he can take any of the welters, through sheer toughness and tenacity, a stellar body attack and attrition. Then I look at his stance, its very primitive. It lacks head movement. His guard is porous. He does not slip or parry. He occasionaly ducks punches from the inside and counters, but mostly he stays in a half crouch behind his guard with little movement and boars forward. The better part of me thinks that as great as he is, this guard and defense is his inevitable downfall. Someone, somewhere, is going to make him pay for it- and perhaps it will be Mosely tonight. I dont know. So my question is, how far do you think Cotto can go given this weakness? How long can his patience, body attack, and sheer tenacity compensate?
realistically...he's been down once. Wobbled in 3 fights. Gained his composure in each instance, and knocked the opponent out. He seems wobbled by the punches he doesn't see coming as any fighter would, but never is concussively KO'd...and the one knockdown in the Torres fight was more of a push after a punch. He's got good legs. I think the Cotto-haters will wake up win or lose. Cotto in the Garden....Cotto is a bulldog, focused and relentless, i know most people are picking SSM, but there's no way i can count Cotto out. I don't see "i punch with my eyes closed" Mosely finishing a hurt Cotto, and i see a tenacious Cotto able to finish Mosely. Small ring, little gloves, and the loudest crowd i've ever heard in the Garden in the past decade screaming loudly at every thrown punch of Cotto's. Damn im excited. I dont even care who wins anymore!
Cottos determination to go to the body...has slowed his fight game to a point were he fights at this paste almost every fight...but cotto has underrated speed even though...if u go look at the Hernandez fight u will see how fast cotto was..when he was younger he was fast he moves his head in and out and it was on his toes...and had good movement and will fight with big time flurries and move in out out of boxing very welll...but hopefully we will see some of his speed in tonights fight..because he is going to need it...
First of all and foremost, Cotto cannot expect to achieve greatness based solely on sheer will, roughness and physicallity, whatever choice of pseudonym you wish to label him with, Wolfhound Guard Dog, Raging Bull, Rhinoceros, Triceratops or Boogeyman, cause he may not be able to penetrate everybody's defensive envelope, let alone to crack everybody's shell. He needs to dictate the pace in this fight to start with, brawl when Shane doesn't want to, box when Shane comes forward, step back and try a lil c'mon and counter, explore gaps in Mosley's approach and move around, loosen up or else, I don't see it coming his way. At the time being, Cotto is no where near that state of the art welterweight but he can beat em all if he fights hard and smart and that's all people want, some of them at least. Styles make fights but we can all adjust to styles and thus, make the fight we want to. Cotto's weaknesses can turn into strength factors if he exercises both brain and brawn against a particular opponent, one at a time... Against Shane, the methodical attack can sputter out the strength of the veteran like air of a popped baloon or water of a bursted hose. But if he sees that that won't happen, use a different strategy already planned in advance... How far can he really go based on the so-called technical flaws and how long can his attributes compensate those? I honestly would say very far and for a long time but that doesn't necessarily mean that he wins tonight.
Good post! I've always said his guard and his peek a boo defense would be his downfall. If he fights someone like PBF it will be his ass he's simply to accurate for that. He will eat straight right hands all night long.
I don't doubt that someone can make him pay for it I just don't think it will be mosley. People seem to think that just because mosley is fast that he is a boxer and nothing coudl be further from the truth. Shane is not hard at all to find and he stands right in front of his opponents. in his prime he would overwhelm guys by throwing hard punches in rapid succesion. he will fight in a similar style tonight but Cotto will punch back and wear him down. He will probably start to slow in the latter half of the fight. The quesion is whether he will be able to mount a big enough lead in the begining of the fight to still take the decision
