Cotto was an excellent fighter but you had to be a true great to beat Benitez in his prime. And sometimes even that wasn’t enough.. I’m thinking of picking Benitez by a decision.
Benítez all wrong for Cotto . and he was in a class clear above imo. He easily outpoints Cotto and his leaky defense. Benetez with the height and reach as well. could be a frustrating night for Cotto because I dont see him landing much which he needs to do a lot in this one. not happening
Cotto wipes out the version of Benitez that was bounced off the mat by Bruce Curry. More focused iterations of Benitez should probably win without that much issue, but Cotto's technical ability and power makes him a live dog and ensures that he'll have a few moments along the way.
Cotto is one of my favorite fighters but I'm givin it to 'El Radar. Benitez in his prime only lost to Sugar Ray and Hearns. I'll throw away the Hamsho loss as Benitez really wasn't a MW and Hamsho was kinda an animal. Hard style to fight when you're the much smaller man.
Benitez was just a higher level of talent. Cotto did manage to have his moments against ATGs in Floyd and Manny (they were physically tough for the winners although not close) so I’ll say he has some pockets of success, but I don’t imagine it would be a close fight.
