MY THOUGHTS: I scored it for Cotto, but...

Cotto:.. 10 - 10 - 09 - 10 - 09 - 10 - 09 - 09 - 10 - 09 - 09 - 10 = 114
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Clottey: 08 - 09 - 10 - 09 - 10 - 09 - 10 - 10 - 09 - 10 - 10 - 09 = 113


There ya go...dispute it all you want, it's how *I* scored it.


First let me say, I had wanted Cotto to win...I considered myself as a fan of Cotto.

I slightly favored Clottey during the first round until Cotto knocked him down. To me, it looked like Clottey was mostly off balance and Cotto timed it perfectly with a jab...nevertheless it was what it was: a knockdown. Clottey looked angry at himself for being caught off balance and he obviously wasn't at all hurt. However, I noticed that from the 2nd round on, he stepped up his defense and didn't leave himself as open anymore.

The overall impression I got was that Cotto couldn't hurt Clottey whatsoever...Clottey's defense is way too tight. Cotto, however, looked as vulnerable as ever. I honestly believe that if Clottey had a killer instinct and REALLY put on pressure, he could have finished Cotto.

The rounds that Clottey won, I thought he won very convincingly. Most of the rounds that I thought Cotto won, I thought he won by a very thin margin. The whole time I was wondering why Cotto is standing there taking punishment? Or why on earth is he backing up giving up ground? I got the impression that he WANTED to stand his ground and he WANTED to be the stronger & more dominant fighter but Clottey wouldn't allow him to do that. Cotto said that we'd see "a new Cotto", but what I ended up seeing was the same Cotto that fought Margarito but who couldn't get off as many punches nor hit Clottey the way he hit Margarito.

It wasn't until the 10th round that Cotto actually started boxing, rather than running. He was getting off his jab better and beat Clottey to the punches here & there. If he fought the whole fight the way he fought in rounds 10, 11 & 12, I feel he would have won by decision more decisively and it is honestly how I expected to see him fight.

Cotto has absolutely no defense for left uppercuts. Zab Judah exposed this vulnerability, and for the life of me, I cannot understand why no one has addressed this. It was this very vulnerability that Margarito exploited 10x and beat Cotto down with. WHY on earth hasn't his team taken care of this???? Unless this flaw is fixed, I can't help but seeing Mosley winning a rematch, and wouldn't be surprised if Pacquiao could either TKO or win by Decision against Cotto at 147. I have to give Cotto props though for continuing to fight with a bad cut over his eye, even though according to my scoring he could have got away with a narrow Technical Decision had he chosen he couldn't continue into the 5th round.

Clottey's defense was SUPERB and his speed & combinations impressed me greatly. For all of Clottey's skill & physical advantages, I have to say...in the end I think Clottey robbed himself. If he had but just a bit more of a killer instinct I think he could have either won a wide decision or finished Cotto. Instead he bitched and moaned about being thrown down and hit behind the head instead of acting like a true fighter(and whether or not these were intentional is highly debatable). And to me this was very telling and indicative of the instinct that Clottey lacks.

Overall, I can't help but get the impression that Cotto escaped with a narrow win...and I mean ESCAPED. I honestly could have seen the fight going either way by a point or 2, but definitely not the ridiculous score that one judge scored it.

I think Clottey deserves a rematch somewhere other than MSG, and if Cotto doesn't give him one, then in my mind it's because he knows he'll lose. And if he does give him a rematch, Cotto had better learned to fix his defensive flaws.

Cotto: He showed he had heart by fighting with the cut as bad as it was, but also showed he hasn't done ANYTHING to fix his defensive flaws against left uppercuts. He also showed that he is affected even by the little pressure that Clottey applied, and lacks the ability to control the tempo of the fight when someone truly does apply pressure. I believe these things CAN be corrected with the right trainer who will give him the right gameplan and tools of defense. I hope he finds a new trainer. I'm left disappointed with him, and think that if he can't fix these things, his time is up because smarter fighters WILL take advantage of it and beat him. DECISIVELY

Clottey: He showed his defense is impenetrable, even against such offensively skilled fighters as Cotto. He showed he has pretty quick hands and great combinations. Unfortunately he has also shown that he lacks that killer instinct and desire to truly apply pressure and destroy opponents, though I believe he has the natural ability, the power, and the skills to do so. It's a shame...because unless he finds the inner strength to do so, I can't see him continually competing again elite fighters nor becoming a big draw.

Your thoughts?

 

wow, i'm not sure how some of you had Cotto winning by more than 2 points? I thought it could have easily gone either way.