Miguel Cotto or Manny Pacquiao...

Pacquiao and it isn't close.

 

Pac.

Cotto is a good fighter and a great man, but he's not on that level.

 

Pac has seen more wars, but I disagree that he is farther removed from his prime. Pac is a case, like Hopkins, where it's hard to place his prime. As he has gotten older, generally a fighters physical skills deteriorate (his really haven't), but his skills have continued to get better. Does he look worse now then he did against Barrera in the first fight? Absolutely not. Maybe a tad slower, but definitely NOT worse. So I dont think he is removed from his prime.

But he has without a doubt had the tougher fights than Cotto:
Barrera 2X's (although the 2nd was a sparring session)
Morales 3X's (although the 3rd was a blowout)
JMM 3X's
Cotto
Margarito

Mosley/Clottey/Hoya I don't count because I don't even think he took any damage at all in those fights.

 

Cottos been in more more wars. He went life and death with Torres and a couple of other gate keepers!

 

Oyeme chicos, Manny has no choice but to go to war. He has no skills!

 

mentally or physically? Pac looks pretty good physically still, legitimacy of his leg cramps not withstanding. mentally his focus and drive just isn't there.

Cotto looks to have his focus back. mentality may or may not be solid. Physically, he looks to be okay aside from fighting heavier and being small for his weight class but by now he's probably okay with it. However, that scar tissue is going to be an issue after Marg 1 and Clottey.

 

Pac is a genetic freak, hes been in far more brutal wars than Cotto, but as far as who's more removed from their prime Id have to say Cotto. mainly because Cotto, as said before, had something taken from him mentally. Margarito really took a piece of his ass, and Pacquiao didnt help either

 

He definitely seems to have regained a bit of his focus and confidence, but I see it going away as soon as hes back in some real hot water

 

Pac is no worse than he was in 2006 he still has the speed and power and skills he had 6 years ago. He has had wars with Barrera,Morales (took a beating in the first), JMM 3 times, took huge body shots from Margarito in their fight.

Cotto has had a beating from Margarito, Pacman, Torres and that's it really. He has taken shots and been cut but he has not been in as many wars as Pacman.

Cotto is a more complete fighter/boxer than he was a few years ago, he has really settled into the weight at 154lbs. I would rather see the fight with Mayweather now than i would have 3-4 years ago, people forget just how fast Floyd was in his prime he would have savaged Cotto.

That said Pac and Floyd are both going to destroy their opponents come fight nights and then announce how they will fight eachother next year, ESB fans will create roughly 1,000,000 posts on the subject only for it to fall through again!!

 

whats the agenda of this thread?

 

The only fights Pac's been in that could be classified as wars are the Marquez fights and the first Morales fight (maybe the 2nd). He takes damage in the majority of his matches because he's an extremely offensive minded fighter, but the fights against Cotto, Barrera, Morales III, Margarito, etc were far too one-sided to be considered wars. Then there are the plain blow-outs like Hatton, Ledwaba, De La Hoya, Clottey, Diaz, etc. He has a great come from behind KO of Sasakul to win his first title, but again, I wouldn't call that a war or anything close to it.


Cotto's has had tight, back and forth battles with Margarito, Clottey, Judah, and Torres, as well as a rather tough outing against Corely. He also took far more damage against Pac than Pac has taken in any single fight he's been in. Despite Manny having been in over 20 more fights and against considerably stiffer competition, he's not been as badly damaged as Cotto (who's still perfectly fine, of course. At most Cotto's just now exiting his prime).