cOTTO WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AFTER THIS FIGHT.

Agreed:good

As hard as he tried
he couldn't hurt Margarito.
That will play havoc
with with Cotto's mind
He'll really doubt himself
in a rematch.

 

Paulie took that kind of beating from Cotto.. and Paulie is better than ever

 

Miguel has already taken vicious punishment against Torres, Judah, and Mosely. All those punches have to get to you after a while. He might string together a decent comeback like Meldrick Taylor, maybe even beat Margo in the rematch, but he'll be burnt out before long.

 

I PRAY THAt miguel doesnt become another jeff lacy

 

he never got schooled like jeff

 

Cotto is one of the greatest boxers ever and like all great boxers, he should come back with more tenacity after this loss.

A loss is just a lesson. A lesson learnt is a positive thing. I think he has the world class ability to not only come back stronger, but rematch and beat Margarito. In the last 4 rounds, he stopped moving as much, stopped using his jab as much, and played right into Margarito's hands/plan. Cotto's clever, he will hopefully reflect upon his performance and not make the same mistakes again, if the rematch was indeed to happen.

He still landed cleaner, crisper shots and got caught with more towards the end. Margarito is still beatable by Cotto, as are other Welterweights out there.

Cotto is an excellent warrior.

 

Cotto may come back stronger you dont know how he takes this defeat!

It certainly was not a beating over 11 rounds. Sure Cotto was bloodied, mentally broken, and physically hurt but he was winning easily for MOST of the fight landing clean hard punches and beautifully out boxing Margo.

 

Cotto will never be the same after this fight. Not only did he lose, he was destroyed and humiliated. That is much worse, psychologically. And, the beating was over a long period of time. Cotto absorbed hellacious punishment from the second round on and was systematically taken apart like he was an extra in Hostile or something.

Will he ever be the same? Has he been "Jeff Lacyed," or "Meldrick Taylored?" Was Margarito his Trinidad to Cotto's Vargas?

That's unclear for now. Cotto's beard could be permanently 'dented,' too. That is another consequence that can result from a fight like this, the long-term softening of the chin.

We'll see.

This was a career-defining and career-altering fight for Cotto, that much is clear. And if the two were to ever meet again, Margarito would knock Cotto out in fewer rounds. Cotto will never again be able to take the beating he took last night, mentally or physically.

As I wrote before the fight, the Cotto Express was halted like a bullet train hitting a mountain at full speed. That's exactly what happened last night, and once that happens things are never the same.

As Kellerman correctly said, Margarito broke Cotto. The near-crying you heard from Lampley told the tale about as well as anything.

How Cotto responds to being obliterated as he was will be fascinating to watch. One thing is for sure -- the 'relentless' Cotto Myth is gone forever. The corner-to-corner full retreat and going to the knee to end the fight without even absorbing a final blow was the final nail in the coffin for a phenomenon that started in earnest around the 9th round of the Mosley fight after Sugar blasted Miguel to the body and sent him off on his 10-speed.

Cotto's fans will never look at him the same way, nor will he ever think of himself as he did prior to last night's execution. That is the danger of being 'Lacyed,' it can snatch your will like a Mike McCallum body shot.

Props to Cotto for taking the fight. Boxing insiders knew how this was going to go down, and still Miguel took the match. That is the mark of a confident fighter, and you hope that after this public flaying by Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto will yet retain some of that self-belief.

 

cotto will be back look at margarito he lost 5 times but he never let that effect him

 

i woulden't say cotto was humiliated and destroyed up until the 7th round cotto had won bout 5/6 of them rounds but like everyone else has said the body shots eventually got to cotto... no doubt he'll be back

 

he might not be the same, if cotto paces him self more he can ekk out a ud or sd.but hell that pressure margo puts on will not let u rest for one second.but i think cotto did to much in the early rds and was tired from his own out put, his back peddleing and most important the RELENTLESS pressure margo put on him.

 

i think if cotto manages to recover from this terrible loss he shall come back even better than before im not questionin his desire for more but tis might just be his motivation to do better

 

That's a good point, but again, you're talking about two different guys and two different mentalities.

Margarito has fought, professionally, half of his life. He was thrown to the wolves at 15 and had to fight his way out against full-grown men. That is part of the reason why he is as 'hard' as he is. Nobody gave him anything, in fact, he has had to patiently wait his turn after cowards like Floyd or on-the-way-out fighters like Shane sidestepped him.

Cotto, on the other hand, was the Golden Child. The reason why those of us who picked against him did so was because we didn't buy the hype and instead saw the poor match-up for what it was. However, if Cotto has bought the hype, and there are suggestions that he has (like when Merchant chastised him for preening in the Gomez fight and falling in love with being a boxer rather than a fighter), then the damage from a fight like this can be devastating, psychologically.

If you build up a mentality that you are unbeatable and then you are decimated as Cotto was, your whole world can come apart. That is what happened to Jeff Lacy. He was 'Mini-Tyson' one minute and then completely exposed and dominated the next. He wasn't ready for that, and it basically ruined his career.

Margo's career path has prevented him from getting a big head like that, and that's one reason he was able to come back from his losses, get off the mat from his knockdowns and put the defeat to Williams behind him.

It remains to be seen how Cotto will handle what happened to him. I think he has a champion's heart, but that fortitude will be tested mightily in the long night that follows a beating like the one he suffered.

 

You speak as if Cotto was outclassed for 11 rounds what fight were you watching ?

Props to Margarito for a gutsy performance....he walked through some hellacious flush cotto punches he has got to have the best chin in boxing.

Cotto was simply exhausted and had nothing left at the end he couldn't keep his hands up nor move on his feet. No energy to clinch either....

The strategy he employed of constantly moving really did him in as around the 7th when he started to tire is when Margo was able to land his shots.