Cotto's resume is better than Sexy Serg's

You don't think he could go two rounds longer than Barker and perhaps do a little better? Because while the gap in Barker and Cotto's skill-set is wide, the difference in performance needed to fight an even fight against Martinez is not.

 

Martinez is one of my favorite fighters but I won't get blinded by favoritisim. Cotto has a better resume and better career than Martinez. Now on an actual fight at say 154lbs I think Martinez beats Cotto.

 

You might be right, but it's no given. Barker is about 2 weightclasses bigger than Cotto.

 

The only win on Cotto's resume that is as good as Pavlik and Williams is Mosley. You arent claiming a faded Margarito is as good as the middleweight champion of the world, and the guy you know who beat Margarito years ago are you?


Depth, you have an argument. But Mayorga was shot to pieces and there is no credible argument that Yuri Foreman was top 5 in the division at the time despite holding the linear title which I dont even believe he beat the champ to get. I think him and SAntos fought for a vacated belt.


Regardless, Martinez would destroy Cotto. Cotto beating a shot Margarito doesnt mean anything. Nor does any of his crap wins at 154.

 

The thing that worries me is that Barker is a big middleweight with a high guard. Not a great one, but he maintains distance pretty well and keeps those arms tight. Cotto's more offense than Barker, physically smaller, and pretty hittable for quick-handed fighters (especially a sneaky southpaw).

I don't see Cotto-Martinez at 154 as a mismatch at all though. I'd favor Martinez and go with a late stoppage, but he isn't a "superfighter" as Kellerman likes to say. His skill-set leaves a lot to be desired and he's getting older, but his athleticism and speed is still elite level. Cotto can make it competitive for a while I think.

 

Foreman wasn't the linear champion and he and Daniel Santos fought for the WBA title that Santos won when he knocked out Joachim Alcine.

 

I never made the correlation of Margarito to Williams.

When I'm talking depth, I'm talking Jr. Welter and Welter, not 154. As I said, 154 was icing on the cake, since none of the opponents were highly ranked, but they each posed a significant risk. Cotto was favored to lose to Foreman given the styles. Cotto is achieving these wins above his natural weight-class, which adds a little to it.

Beating Margarito displayed subtle but key technical adjustments Cotto would need against any elite fighter, not just a tall, heavy, strong-chinned aggressor. I really don't see what points to Margarito being so shot. The differences in his style and durability between now and before are marginal.

If Martinez struggled with Barker, I don't think he'll "destroy" Cotto. He may win and he could stop him, but not until they fought a competitive bout. Cotto's timing would exploit Martinez's lack of a guard at least some of the time, just like Barker's inferior jab and straight punches did. Size is an issue, but there's no reason to believe Cotto's equal or superior skill-set won't make him competitive, especially considering his defense is superior to that of Pavlik and Williams by far.

I definitely see your points there; Cotto doesn't have the same dimensions as Barker, but he does have the superior defense. He's not as vulnerable to angled shots because his guard is more centered around his chin, rather than his upper face, and his balance allows him more visibility and less defensive holes. But I agree with what you're saying; I'm not sure at all Cotto would win, but I think he'd give him a tougher fight than his recent opponents have due to his proven abilities and skill-set.

 

Who favored Cotto to lose to Foreman?

Margarito had lost his 2 of his last 3 fights and his only win was a horrible performance against a journeymen. Mosley and Pacquiao had no trouble with Margarito. Cotto's face was still busted up and who knows how the fight would have concluded had the ref allowed it to continue. Cotto pretty much beat Margarito because of the damage Margarito suffered against PAcquiao. Margarito was not the same fighter and its not a good enough performance to forget that Margarito is not a top fighter in boxing anymore.

How the hell do you correlate anything between Barker and Cotto. atsch


Barker is 6'1

Cotto is 5'6


Barker is a middleweight


Cotto is a small Junior middleweight


Barker used his size and length and rangy jab to time Martinez coming in. Martinez had trouble because Barker laid back and didnt give Martinez any counter punching opportunities. He still KO'd Barker even with Barker having the ear muffs on showing his power.



Cotto on the other hand is small, short armed, and Martinez holds every physical advantage over Cotto, speed, strength, power, and he's bigger and longer which means Cotto wont be able to stand back like Barker and try and pick Martinez coming in.

Martinez would beat Cotto easier then Pac did. And why are you mentioning Cotto's defense in comparison to Pavlik and Williams when both PAvlik and Williams would beat the **** out of Cotto. And how is Cotto's defense so good when even Shane Mosley was able to keep Margarito from ever really hitting him?


Seriously, you think Barker wouldnt beat the **** out of Cotto?

 

You also might be right that Martinez' top 2 wins are better than Cotto's, but they are not that much better to make up for the lack of depth. Williams was not that proven at LMW and MW, and Pavlik was not that formidable at the time, or since. And whatever you think of the Margarito fight, it's a more noteworthy win than Barker or Macklin.

 

I consider Barker a better fighter then Margarito. Certainly a much tougher fight stylistically for Martinez then Margarito who was 1-2 in his last 3 fights where he was brutalized and KO'd and beaten so bad his career was in jeopardy in the other.


Could you imagne what Martinez would do to Margarito? Margarito would probably be killed if he didnt go down.

 

But Margarito is PWill second best win, and probably his highest rated opponent at the time. No doubt he'd be murdered by Sergio now, but he's not as easy on a smaller guy like Cotto. You think Segura is nearly the boxer that Calderon is? And Margo is an n-time world champ, I doubt Barker will be able to say the same at that stage.

 

Barker doesnt have the Top Rank hype machine behind him. Who did Margarito beat? He beat Cintron twice and Cotto. Thats pretty much it aint it?

 

How about Martinez, he beat him. He also beat many top 10 ww guys. Barker is yet to beat a top 5 EBU.

 

Martinez had just started boxing. Come on now. There is a reason Uncle Bob wont put Cotto or Cheato in with Sergio. It'd be destruction.


Remember how hyped Dzinzuruk was before he fought Martinez? Remember the razor jab? What happened to that?

 

Yeah, he was pretty hyped. A lot of the people at the fight couldn't pronounce his ****ing name.