I have seen everything in boxing. One thing you see very often is that a guy takes beatings and hes never the same. Now, on the other hand, Ive seen fighters who take beatings and theyre refreshed and better than ever. But the former is more prevalent than the latter. -Bob Arum on Miguel Cotto This quote came from an article Noted Columnist Kevin Iole did on whether or not Cotto can take anymore punishment. Here's a good excerpt from the article; "People often make the terribly unpleasant decision to euthanize pets they adore because the pets are ill and suffering badly. In the same way, its a trainers job to do the right thing for his fighter, even if the fighter says he wants to press on. He was so mauled by Pacquiao that his father, Miguel Cotto Sr., who died of a heart attack on Jan. 3, walked to his corner, fearful for his safety, after the seventh round. Son assured father he was fine and kissed him on top of the head before absorbing more punishment while Santiago took no action. Most fighters arent able to respond to one such beating, let alone two" http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news;_ylt=AgjrKI6QQXZJjBUwGTbzr1WUxLYF?slug=ki-cotto060310
You can't get punched repeatedly and not suffer some type of damage. After your brain is damaged you can't spontaneously heal. There is no medical model for it. It is not just a risk that you accept when you take up boxing, but a fact that you live with and attempt to minimize.
I don't know why people are sensitive about Cotto. Yes, he's taken a couple of beatings but that's the way he fights. He gets hit and hurt when he wins, the losses were just a lot more damaging but it's not like there's any reason to think he can't bounce back. He's never taken a Davey Moore beating - The Pacquiao fight was close and then Cotto was rarely getting pounded. Against Margarito, he was dominant in the first half, so he hasn't been exposed to the prolonged beatings which end careers.
So true. I don't think Cotto was the same after that Margarito fight. I want him to win against Foreman, but wow. I just don't see it.
He is off his rocker about the Pac fight, but he does have a point about the Margarito fight. Cotto literally lost two rounds. Jack has a distorted view of a LOT of things.
Cotto lost only two of the first six rounds, but he was taking a lot of punishment in every round except the first. No way in hell was he dominating that fight. He was getting broken down.
If anybody in the sport deserves a nice payday and moment in the sun on his way out it's Cotto. He's given his all and entertained us for a decade. Not to mention that his only two losses have clouds of suspicion around them. Let him take a high profile, low risk fight in his adopted home and hope he calls it a day.
For the first 4 or 5 rounds, Cotto/Pacquiao was a fight. Pacquiao was winning, sure, but it wasn't one sided. When it did become one sided, Cotto wasn't getting badly hurt. Cotto was schooling Margarito badly, until the final few rounds. The pound I'm making is, Cotto has never suffered a prolonged beating in any fight. The closest to it, was the latest half of the Pacquiao bout, but, again, his head wasn't being rocked all over the place after every shot. He's never suffered that kind of devastating defeat. Look at his two losses and two other: Hatton's. Hatton was beaten badly and then destroyed in two. Those fights ruin a career, the stoppages Cotto was on the end of, don't. Frazier being stopped against Foreman and then Ali was crushing, Hearns being beaten by Leonard and Hagler wasn't. I don't think Cotto will look bad or 'shot'.
:roflatsch Cotto's face was a mangled mess after the Pacquiao fight. He should have been pulled out of there from round 8 onwards for his own health. This content is protected