Cotto vs. Margarito: The Big Reg Perspective

It's fight night hardcore fight fans and I know you're all excited. I haven't posted a whole lot about this fight, so I'm going to take this last opportunity to give my perspective.

First off, I think people are underestemating how well this fight is going to do. I think the promotion is a lot better than people on this site are making it out to be. The countdown shown was good, and I think it served it's purpose in terms of luring in casual fans. ESPN gave it some good coverage in the last few days, and there have been articles about the fight in many newspapers. My prediction; I think this fight should do over 300k. I'll say 350k, I wouldn't be surprised if it cracks 400k.

Now, on to the fight. I have to take Cotto in this fight. I live by 3 basic adages when I pick fights; speed kills, skills win fights, and styles make fights.

Speed Kills - As is the case with many sports, speed is often the difference between winning and losing. Cotto isn't Floyd Mayweather out there, but he's noticeably faster than Margo. The hand and footspeed will play an important factor in this fight.

Skills win fights - Cotto is pretty much a complete fighter. He can fight backwards, fowards, and against the ropes. He has an authoratative jab, a great left hook, an adequte straight right, adnd he's a good combination puncher. He counter punches well, his punches are straight and accurate, and he can crack. He's also a better defensive fighter than people give him credit for. Margo has no advantages in terms of skill besides maybe punching power.

Styles make fights - Margo is your typical face first brawler. He throws a lot of punches, he can take a punch, he can crack, and he has seemingly limitless stamina. To beat a guy like this you need to have fast hands, you have to be able to move, and you have to be an accurate puncher who can counter. Cotto fits the bill. The only thing Cotto needs to be really aware of is Margo's uppercut. Most of Margo's other punches are wide and slow. Cotto should be able to see them coming a mile away. Cotto's going to get hit out there, but since he'll see the punches coming they won't do as much damage.

Roger Mayweather said it well when he said the sport is about skills and luck and that skills win 9 times out of 10. I'm going with the odds on this one. With that being said, this is boxing people; anything can happen. Cotto can suffer an injury, he can suffer a bad cut, or he can get caught at any moment. Margo is a tough veteran who won't go away easily. I think Margo will go the distance and have his moments, but in the end, Cotto is just too good.

 

**** yourself *******. :good

 

Because most of them weren't very good. Williams took his licks, but still won. Cotto is a better defensive fighter and a smaller target.

 

It doesn't matter if he throws half the punches. He's a better defensive fighter, and he's not a big target like Paul Williams. Cotto is also a very good counterpuncher and is very accurate. Those shots are going to slow down Margo. It's hard to throw 100 punches a round when you keep getting countered; especially when the guy can crack.