Cotto will wake up Sunday morning. He'll pop the video and watch the fight again--probably for the 2nd or 3rd time since the night before! And then it'll hit him: He blew it. He fought the wrong fight. A fight he could've won. You see, there's two Cottos. I call them the "real Cotto" and the "fake Cotto." The "real Cotto" was this guy who used to fight a few years ago. You shoulda seen him. A one-punch knock-out artist, the "real Cotto" was not. But he was a savage body-puncher who would jab his way in to systematically grind down his opponents. He'd break down punchers like Ricardo Torres. Slicksters like Paulie Malignaggi. Speedsters like Zab Judah. The dude f-d up a lot of different styles. Then he fought this old guy named Mosley and in the middle of that fight, something weird started to happen. The "real Cotto" started to vanish before our eyes! I mean, not literally, but by the end of that fight--well, how should I say--by the end of that fight...someone else was standing there! It wasn't the "real Cotto" anymore! It was someone else! The guy who lifted his hands at the end of the Mosley fight wasn't the "real Cotto." It was somebody else! At the time, I didn't think much of it. And then came Margarito. That's when I realized there was this other guy: "fake Cotto." Who was this guy, I thought. This guy is headhunting' ilke a mofo and running. The Cotto I know doesn't run. He likes ribs. Breaking them, I mean. The "real Cotto" made his money through disciplined, violent aggression. I mean, his bread and butter was to use feints and an authoritative jab to get in and unleash a hellacious body assault that'd pay serious dividends by the 7th, 8th round. This guy that's fighting Margarito is someone else, doing all kinds of crazy s-t that don't make no sense! I don't recognize him. He's a fake. So, this "fake Cotto" loses to Margarito (He didn't have plaster in his chin, did he?). Escapes Clottey. Get's his ass handed to him by Pac at a catch-weight. Fights a few more confidence builders, grabbing a belt from a one-legged rabbi along the way. All the while I'm thinking, "Where the f-k did he go?" I don't believe the Margs fight changed him. The "real Cotto" was already gone before that fight. Something else happened. Before. Maybe it was his training relationship with Evangelista. Or maybe he just realized one day that he needed to be more careful, after all he was a young father and husband whose entire family was relying on him. I don't know. But something happened and the "real Cotto" turned into the "fake Cotto." Margarito 1 certainly didn't help. The "real Cotto" still hasn't been seen or heard from. Some say they saw him at MSG for the Margarito rematch. I didn't. I saw the imposter in that ring, even though I'll give the fake his props for doing what he had to do against a now damaged Margs. But still I ask, where's the "real Cotto?" Because if he doesn't show up on Saturday against the greatest challenge he'll ever face, I'll know he's gone forever.
Ok, you mean "bullying offensive Cotto", "gunshy Cotto", and "laterally effective" Cotto. We haven't seen bullying offensive Cotto in a while, but glimpses of him were there, and came with new flavor in the physicality he utilized against Margarito. "Gunshy Cotto" is gone; he did not shy away from the clinch or inside exchanges against the man that mangled his face and stole his 0. The only way I see him coming back is under extremely damaging conditions. "Laterally effective Cotto" looks here to stay, and looks damn sharp. The question is, can Cotto be at his best both as an aggressor and a mobile defender, fusing his peak performances against both Mosley and Margarito 2? We'll see on May 5th. As far as I can tell, he's prepared to do everything he can and needs to do win.
I'm sure all boxers have regrets like that. . . But I think Cotto will give the best showing of himself he possibly can, and he'll leave everything in the ring. Oh yeah, that 10+ million dollars will help to ease any regrets he might have. . . Not to mention his hot wife he'll be vaginally penetrating the next morning. . . .
Well, I think the mobile Mayweather who used his legs for superior positioning is now a thing of the past (although he's still quite reactive and will do it from time to time). I have to believe that Mayweather is gonna try and keep the fight in the center of the ring and walk to Cotto. I think in Mayweather's mind he believes he's the stronger guy. But we've seen recently that he's become almost exclusively a pot-shotter, with little to no combination punching. It hasn't translated yet into trouble (except for that brief moment in the second round against Mosely where he got nailed twice by lead rights) because he's so damn accurate. I believe that Cotto's earlier style (which is why I hope he hasn't completely abandoned it as you say) matches the best against this current version of Mayweather. Will Cotto be able to, as you say, be an effective aggressor and mobile defender? Yes, as long as he commits to feints and jabbing his way in to the body early.
