Best fighter you pick Cotto to beat

It's hard to say, he's been out punched by Margo, out sped by Pacquiao, outboxed by Floyd and outsized by Trout.

I wouldn't put him amongst the top 15 of the divisions history certainly.

I'm not sure how he'd even do against Starling, Breland and Honeyghan.

Who's the best WW he beat? Clottey, Judah, Mosley? Very hard fighter to place.

 

The point is he got defeated by a lot of different styles in his prime and he struggled to establish dominance in any given division.

That makes it hard to know how good he was.

 

Cotto's one of those guys who was pretty darn solid, but never close to being great. He put together a nice resume based on his talent as well as the historically so-so to mediocre era he fought it.

He squeaked past an older Mosley, so fair to say a prime Mosley would've clearly beaten him. And he edged Clottey in a controversial fight, so given that, I can't see any way he'd beat somebody like Starling or Quartey who were far better than Clottey. He wouldn't have beaten any of the top welters of the late 90s/early 2000s like Trinidad, DLH, Forrest, etc. I tend to think huge punchers (cuevas, Lopez, etc.) bust him up with his loose guard. Nor do I think he matches up well with historically formidable pressure fighters.

The true greats would have just torn through him or soundly outboxed him. I don't know...I could see him beating Oba Carr or outboxing Mayorga in a difficult fight or something like that. And at 140, he was too vulnerable to beat any great to near great fighter.

Cotto's difficult to rank for the reasons you mentioned and because his standing in today's era far surpasses his historical value. To be honest, I just don't think he was ever really all that...and i say that as a fan.

 

Tim Bradley or Roger Mayweather

 

Davey Moore, Cory Spinks, off night 154 Duran, probably Simon Brown.

 

I could see Cotto coming from behind and catching Benitez with something big, like Bruce Curry did. And, I certainly don't see Cotto letting that version Benitez off the hook and allowing him back into the fight.

 

I disagree with the notion that an era where the best front runners in your division were Mayweather and Pac was mediocre. Whilst I agree that Cotto ( probably ) wasn't "great", I think there were some truly great fighters who might have struggled to be number one with those two men standing in the way.

 

I could see him beating Locche or Mcgirt.

 

I can not see Cotto beating either of these men.

 

Why not Locche? The guy was undersized and had little power. I don't think he could stop Cotto from killing him to the body.

McGirt maybe was a little better at this peak than Cotto, but similar level.

 

TBH, Cotto got ruined by that plaster beating he received from Margarito. He was never the same after, what he achieved after that fight though is stuff of legend. You have to admire that, it's like getting beaten with a bat an inch towards death, then going on to win a world title in boxing despite your punch resistance being completely shot.

I don't rate pre-brick Cotto as a top 15 ATG in any division, he didn't really do enough to establish an ATG ranking. He's more of a what if fighter, if he didn't get cheated he could of gone on to achieve greater things. Still a great career though.

 

Idk about anyone else but Tommy Hearns would spark him clean

 

LMAAOOOOOO @ Cotto beating Locche.