Cotto set to become 2008's Jermain Taylor

Like I thought !

 

Alright then!

I'm lucky enough to be going to the fight -- my nose will be bleeding more than those of the fighters themselves -- and literally get nervous just thinking about it.

Not sure yet, but think I'm going to cheer for Margarito, simply because he's a blue collar guy, and Cotto can withstand a loss from a career perspective better than he can.

Margarito HAS to win this fight, or else he ends up on ESPN2. No one is going to fight him if he loses again. Too dangerous.

 

One constant I've seen here for people calling a Cotto win is that his chin problems are gone because he took flush shots from Shane Mosley.

As far as I'm concerned Mosley doesn't even hit as hard as Zab Judah punch for punch. Not these days anyhow.

In Shane's BEST days he was a swarmer who needed more than one punch to get the job done. Sure he knocked out guys at welter that could take some punishment. The problem is that as precise as Shane was he still needed rounds to finish these guys. In the Cotto fight we're talking post-BALCO Shane, who is older and slower. It should be obvious to most here why Shane never had Cotto on ***** street.

Margarito can change the direction of a fight on one punch. And he's done that before. I have no reason to believe he can't do the same to Cotto.

 

Me, either. Dammit.

 

Good point on Mosley. It seems to me that Cotto has steeled himself a bit since the days of getting badly hurt by Chop Chop, but obviously chin is not an asset in his favor, to say the least.

Do you think Cotto can box for 12 rounds, or at least in spots over 12 rounds? I'm imagining Cotto will fight Margarito the way I (wrongly) thought Calzaghe would fight Lacy.

Box, dart in and out, stand and fire at opportune moments.

 

I think he's going to limit his offense to a typical one and done. He was practicing this against Gomez.

He'll let Margarito step in, and then he'll try and close the gap ala Quintana-Williams. He'll rely on his precision and speed to land flush and then get out of the way.

I can't see Cotto offering himself to Margarito which he would if he attempted to land combinations.

It's gonna be up to Margarito to stop Cotto moving in by using a stiff jab and a short uppercut inside when Cotto does eventually step in.

Margarito has this in the bag if he follows the right gameplan. If he attacks Cotto and falls in he will end up losing this fight. He'll have to maintain a good amount of distance even when stepping forward so he doesn't step into Cotto's punching distance.

 

Do you think Margarito has the discipline to accomplish that? To me, he appeared to become unhinged in the Williams fight during the middle rounds, when his opponent enjoyed a reach advantage and outworked him, admittedly something he hadn't seen previously.

My faith in Cotto is that he spots opportunities to trade even when under fire. One of my favorite moments of his career so far was the brave, yet intelligent and subtly tactical way he attacked Torres after he'd been put on the deck. That was when I first thought he could become a truly elite PfP fighter.

My issue with Margarito is feet. Cintron was right there for him, Clotty largely was as well, but the one guy who offered him just a little lateral movement in Williams was able to shut him down for most of the fight.

You don't want to read too much into that fight because, as mentioned, Williams is a totally different kettle of fish physically compared to Cotto, but Margarito doesn't have very quick feet.

On the other hand, Margarito can trail and still win the fight in a moment's burst, whereas the inverse probably isn't true.

 

The problem with comparing Cotto to Williams is that Williams is 7 inches taller than Cotto. He also has a HUGE reach advantage over Cotto. 67" to 82"

Margarito had issues finding Williams because of that fact. Williams also did a lot of stepping back against Margarito. And he was still eating hard body shots. Something that almost paid off for Margarito late in that fight.

I don't really care what anyone says about Williams but the fact is that guy can take a helluva punch. Quintana landed his best on Williams and didn't hurt him. So did Margarito for the most part until it got into the later rounds and Williams was hurting.

Cotto can be faster of foot but he's still shorter than Margarito and has a shorter reach. Margarito just has to be careful not to jump in and close all the distance he has. And he doesn't have to. He did adjust to Lujan this very same way and he started to control Lujan at a distance with the jab and the uppercut. I do believe he can do the same thing to Cotto. I mean like it or not, Cotto's footwork is still not elite. He will have to sit down at some point on his punches if he is to discourage Margarito also. I don't see him taking the kind of abuse Paul Williams took to survive 12.

 

you never are going to give him props because you are a public hater and always a hater will hate.

 

Margarito has been starting off his attack early ... I think that he punishes Cotto for a few rounds before KO'ing him ...

Cotto doesn't stand a chance, because I doubt that he would use his superior talent and box.

I'm not so sure that with this kinda atmosphere that he would be calm and composed.