Joshua Clottey has only himself to blame for losing that fight. He had Cottos eyebrow ****ED UP for almost the ENTIRE fight, and had him reeling for much of the 2nd half. If Clottey had manned up and shown the heart of a champion there would be no dispute but he gave up the last two rounds like a punk and has only himself to blame. And all that playacting, bitching and moaning he did while the fight was on? Of course people aren't goin to buy that when the guy he was in against had his face covered in blood for most of the fight. Clottey acted like a punk, not a champion and it is no surprise that he lost that fight. While I wouldnt agree with that wide score for Cotto, I had it 114-113 for Cotto, Clottey had to have realized that Cotto is the champ and to beat the champ especially at MSG the night before the Puerto Rican Day Parade you gotta take it from him. I dont want to hear any complaints about this fight at all. It was Clottey's night to get the upset and he ****ed it up for himself by acting like a chump not a champ. Champs dont whine and act for every little "injury", they do what Cotto did, they take the punishment and man up.
It shouldn't be a surprise that Clottey is a terrible finisher with poor stamina, been saying it for too long already. The guy had a blown up, beyond shot and coming off two physically/mentally damaging losses Corrales(RIP) OUT of there since round 7 and couldn't finish him. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone, I knew and said that he will have Cotto hurt and maybe even looking like being stopped but won't do much to bite.
Sorry, you score fights by a round by round basis. You dont make special concessions because its ****ing Puerto Rican parade day, or whatever the ****, or Cotto's paper ****ing vacated belt, or because he had a cut over his eye. YOU SCORE THE ROUNDS. Clottey won the rounds. Thats why he deserved to win. I dont care if he acted like he was hurt when he wasnt, if Cotto was having bad day, or what. You score the rounds. The only champion in the Welter weight division is Mosley. Clottey didnt have to take ****. He vacated his belt to fight Cotto's ass at madison square. Give him some ****ing credit for that.
I 100% give him credit for that. He stepped up to the plate. But at the same time thats b/c Cotto is a throwback fighter that actually wants to fight the best. Like I said, I only had Cotto winning by a single round and thats b/c of the last two rounds. If Clottey had manned up for the last two rounds the fight would have been his but he didnt. Be honest, Clotteys performance tonight was not what a champion looked like. Cotto won it b/c he manned up consistently and fought through adversity. Clottey tried to get points deducted in a shameful way and lost credibility both with the judges and the fans
All Clottey had to do was turn it up a notch. It seemed to me he was landing whenever he threw at a nice percentage and Cotto obviously had a disadvantage with that cut. With that said I still feel that if Clottey got the decision it would not have been a robbery at all. Either fighter could have won, that knockdown in the first turned out to be huge.
2 rounds where all Cotto did was run and potshot. The 11th round where they both landed the same amount of punches yet Clottey threw more punches and was the aggressor. He was the aggressor, he landed the harder punches, landed more punches, was the busier fighter, had a better connect percentage, and his defense was darn near impenetrable. Tell me, what does a champion boxer look like?
