Miguel Cotto vs Ike Quartey at 147lbs.

I like the idea. Quartey was and is underrated.

- Jason

 

Cotto by UD.

 

I think Cotto is the more versatile fighter. I think is offense is better, I think his inside game is better and punching technique matches Quartey's. Quartey's jab is one of the best ever, but Cotto has a very respectable jab without a doubt. Cotto has great body punches, Quartey had a very good ear muff defense.

Its a tight fight but I slightly favor Cotto's versatility against him, but I can see Quartey landing clean jabs and straight punches throughout the fight to make every single round very close.

 

In his prime, Quartey was a block of physical strength. Even prime DLH barely beat him. I think Quartey will outhustle Cotto and take a close points win.

 

Lets revisit this thread after Margarito. I know Margarito stylistically isn't a guy that is good at measuring this at all, BUT that fight will let us in on how dominant Cotto can be against a much bigger, stronger man with an Iron Chin and volume punching.

 

Not a chance in hell Cotto has against a prime Quartey and the Margarito fight will prove nothing to the contrary. Quartey is a technical boxer-puncher behind a great jab, a great defence and had good power and accuracy with a very good chin himself, he was also pretty fast. Cotto would be able to adapt to this and would get KOed.

 

I think it would be very hard for Quartey to out hustle miguel cotto. It takes a combination of either speed/athleticism or a hurting cotto/volume punching to be able to do that. Quartey and Cotto are very similar in that they're both very balanced fighters, all around they're very technically sound. I just favor Cotto's footwork, inside game, speed, fluid combinations, body punching, and effective pressure to get the better of the pin point accuracy and amazing jab of Quartey. The fight is tight, I'm not saying Cotto takes it I mean as of right now this fight is completely a "?????" but We have to see how Cotto develops to be able to match him against proven fighters. As of right now its kind of unfair to do these classic match ups with a fighter that isn't "classic" yet.

 

If you don't think an offense like Cotto's could exploit weaknesses in Quartey's game than you clearly aren't looking deep enough.

 

Cotto throws completely untelegraphed inside counter punches that have a lot of mustard on them. If Quartey elects to fight the shoulder to shoulder fight...

(which I think he would, he isn't as good as a mover on his legs as Cotto - I think they'd fight a mix of a boxing fight/toe to toe type fight)

...Then that could open him up to getting caught by Cotto's shorter armed compact punches. Quartey was phenomenal at mid range his arms were long, his jab amazing, and I'm not saying he couldn't fight inside. But when you're getting hit by a guy that clearly has an advantage inside than that kind of disrupts that side of your game that really isn't your dominant side.

Cotto would get his ass kicked at mid range, but if he closed the distance and timed Quartey's openings he could give him hell as well. The outcome of this fight as of right now is completely unknown.

 

you're making it seem like ike had no weaknesses
i think vargas was able to expose and exploit a few including ike's tendency to be outworked by his opponent (the primary reason he lost that fight, and he deserved to lose it)

i think cotto would adjust to the "bazooka" jab after a few rounds and eventually swarm and overwhelm ike, probably winning like the last 6-7 rounds in a runaway decision

 

The only way to beat Miguel Cotto is to really hurt him! IMO. Quartey did not have the power to make Cotto change up his style and start moving backwards. The way Quartey covered himself, left him perfect for that famous left hook. Which will eventually cause Quartey to drop his guard, allowing Cotto to get brilliant combonations out. Ultamatly leading to Ike to get hit with enough flush shots to either go down or have the fight stopped.

Cotto via KO/TKO

 

Good fight, both fighters could cause problems for eachother. No doubt Cotto would get outclassed from the outside and hasn't got a hope in hell of out-jabbing Quartey, he'd need to get close. Although Quartey was a great boxer, he never really used much lateral movement and prefered to cover up in-front of his opponents. I think Cotto would be able to close the gap at times and nuetralise the jab, landing body shots around Ike's turtle shell defence. I wouldn't be suprised if Cotto got knocked down by a 1-2 trying to get in close.

The big question is if Cotto can get past Quartey's jab, I think he could at times but not enough to completely control the fight. Up close I give Cotto the advantage, he is better offensively on the inside and I think he may be able to out-hustle Ike (Quartey preferred to keep his opponents on the end fo his jab). You must also consider that Quartey was no stranger to brawling, and if this happens Cotto may have the advantage (although Ike could definately do alot of damage as he had good power)

Cotto is no where near as adapt as a prime DLH at fighting at long-range (neither does he have the chin to take flush Quartey shots). Yes he may land some punches every now and again due to Quartey's lack of movement, but overall he would be outlanded and controlled.

I see Cotto having some succes at time when he gets up-close and Quartey elects to trade, landing good body shots and out-working his opponent. However I feel that he would be outboxed for many parts of the fight and would have trouble overcoming the jab of Ike, possibly suffering a knockdown. Cotto finishes the fight strong due to body punching, but the early rounds are controlled by Quartey (aswell as a knockdown) and he wins a clear decision.

There alot of things we need to learn about Cotto before I'm confident he can beat someone like Ike Quartey. Yes Ike had weaknesses, im just not sure Cotto could exploit them well enough just yet.

Quartey decision (115-112ish)