Miguel Cotto v Kostya Tszyu

I think KT's right hand is harder and more explosive in KT's arsenal, but Cotto has the harder body punchers. He has shorter arms, tighter punches and gets more leverage. He is also naturally a leftie so his left hook and left to the body are the hardest punches he throws. Cotto definitely throws the harder body shots IMO.

 

I agree. I am actually more worried about the counter right hand of Mosley to be honest.

 

Thats the one. The same punch that caught Oscar so many times. I expect him to loop it and try to throw it over the top of Cotto's high guard.

 

I can't see this arguement getting anywhere but I heavily disagree. Cottos best punch is his left hook to the body. He is a shorter fighter, and throws tighter punches. Kostya being a European fighter likes more range to be effective. The body shot against Hurtardo was good, but watch any Cotto fight and you will see numerous great hooks to the body. Plus being that his left hand is his strongest, and the fact that he naturally fights in close quarters, he puts his whole body into the punch to deliver maximum power. No way Kostya has a better left hook to the body then Cotto.

 

Good luck. Hope you enjoy your avatar.

 

Great post. Couldn't have said it better.

 

I wouldn't say his standing is diminished. Cotto at 147 has looked very strong. he has already beaten Judah who is arguably the best name on KT's resume, and if he beats Mosley then he will have defeated a fighter better then anyone else on KT's resume. Cotto is still unproven which is why I picked KT as well, but if Cotto can beat a couple more of boxings top guys at 147, surely a case can be made that he could beat Kostya. Not a knock on Kostya, more just a wrap on Cotto. Kostya is a great fighter but I think the Phillips loss took much more away from him then the hatton bout. He just fought the wrong fight against Hatton and let his ego get in the way. I have no doubt he could have beaten hatton if he had fought a smarter fight.

 

What hurts Kostya is the fact that overall his competition wasn't outstanding compared to other ATG fighters and that is what his detractors point out time and time again. I prefer to look at the way he beat people. Particularly for me, the way he bashed Gonzalez was extremely impressive, as was his second win over mitchell and the win over a young and undefeated Zab Judah. Earlier in his career he beat a lot of name fighters, but for the most past they were well past there best. Particularly in the case of Chavez. Regardless the way he beat them was very impressive. If Kostya had faced Mayweather instead of hatton and pulled off a victory, he would without a doubt be the greatest 140lb fighter of all time.