My thoughts on how Cotto can use the tools at his disposal to beat Mayweather

Just kind of pointing it out, Cotto did very well against Shane Mosley who has good handspeed and is known for his overall quickness. Same with Malignaggi..

He negated both with a solid jab.

Just pointing that out.

 

u just made mine, my hero :hi:

 

You can never win a debate against someone who teaches 4-5 years old boxing!!!!

I used to debate with a soccer coach who teaches babies how to play soccer! Boy, they do sound like they are members of Arsenal or manchester United.

 

Yes Sir you're right.

The differences (to me atleast) is that Cotto had superior timing to both Paulie and Mosley, which is the common answer to speed. Shane had more success with Cotto when he got up on his toes.

Manny Pacquaio had explosive foot movement, which Cotto struggled to deal with, probably more so than the hand speed.

Now, Mayweather doesn't have that sort of spring in his step anymore, but I'd argue that he's both faster than Cotto, and with better timing too.

 

funny thing is, he is telling me shite i already know. its like talking to a 12 yo atsch

 

Intresting thought

 

I think that is what we will see from Cotto. All of Mayweather's opponents try to come at him and bully him. Nobody has used an effective style of movement against him as that is not a typical style to employ when facing Mayweather. The only past opponent in recent years that didn't try to bully Floyd was Marquez. However Juan is a tried and true counter puncher and tried to box coming forward with Mayweather. From his point of view, that would have been effective had Juan been a fighter with quicker feet and handspeed.

I think that if Cotto comes out with this style and is moving constantly, the openings will present themselves as Floyd tends to reach for the punch at times. This is probably what Diaz meant when he said that the biggest key to victory for Miguel will be patience. Cotto has to go to work, pop his jab and keep moving in different directions, waiting for Floyd to reach out. When Floyd does reach out, bam, catch him with a hard counter and follow up with a combination while Floyd is covering up, and then bring it back to the center and repeat.

That seems like one of the gameplans Diaz is working on however I have no doubts that they have more in the bag for when Floyd adjusts.

 

everybody knows that floyd will shoot over the jab with his right. or he ll set up his right lead by stepping to the right, turning and waiting for the other fighter to lift his feet- and then bam- lung all in with it. floyds a master at timing and distance. and he s also a master at ad******g. for cotto to win this fight- he ll have to do a few things- and do them all well, perfectly. he ll have to press at times, back off, box, mix it all up and vary his offence and his defence in order to not give floyd a chance to adjust . most fighters , good fighters- like zab, shane, oscar, all had great success in the early rounds. in fact in those fights- id say each of them may have been equal heading out of the first half. what floyd does well is maintain his compisure- while the other man fades away. very underestemated is floyds right uppercut to the body which slows down many a man.

cotto would be well advised to go to the body early and often, even submit a few rounds to floyd for the sake of emptying some of floyds gas. not even go for the head and instead shoot the right to the body, and the left hook -then tie up .

against the ropes, cotto needs to discard the right- and use it only as a feint to set up The double jab, step to the left and shoot the short left hook. floyd waits for the right to counter- and normally ties up the left. best way to beat floyd in short is to turn it into a dog fight. slow and messy - tie up often, dont give him a chance to tip the inside fighting in his favour- which he invariably does as he is a master. cotto hasnt the footspeed to get in and out as people are suggesting. once he s in- he s gotta stay in, going in and out- or trying to turn floyd will just leave him getting peppered as gatti tried to. cotto has to keep things at his pitch basically. a long range fight will favour floyd, and a long inside battle will favour floyd. cottos best shot is to get off first, tie up, then get out of the clinch with a jab- ending the exchange. feint for another 20 seconds, and repeat. i cant see cotto beating floyd on points any other way with his skills and body type, and dimensions. there are many ways to beat floyd- but you need the tools to start with- and cotto hasnt got the style to really trouble floyd to start with. styles make fights- and cotto is an orthodox boxer with power, in a straight up amateur style, he s turned a bit more since his early pro days, but stull, its the kind that floyd has seen since he was a kid. If cotto were tall enough to reach over and use his straight right- or have a jab advantage - ths would be a totally different fight, it d be like prime oscar v floyd, but as is- floyd will snuff him and make it a clinic i fear.

 

the difference in mosley v cotto is that mosley is always willing to exchange and try and hit back when he gets hit. cotto beat mosley with the jab- but shanes always had an overrated jab in my book. you cant say cotto can handle speed cos he handles zab and mosley. floyd is fast- but its not hs speed that is his asset. its his timing and distance control. to beat timing and distance , you need speed or reach. cotto dont have that ****.

 

I've never been a big fan of Cotto. I don't like that hulking/crouching style he used against Pac and Judah, and the way he would plod forward when on the attack. He also seemed to take too long to set himself to throw power punches -- you could visibly see him stopping and preparing to shoot punches in the Pac match, something that made him predictable. His handspeed is decent, but because he took so long to initiate the punches it gave his opponent the chance to cover up or move. Compare this to Pac and Floyd, who have fast hands, but boost their effectiveness by also initiating their punches quickly. The punches seem to explode out of nowhere, with little telegraphing beforehand.

Cotto also looked vulnerable to counters when coming forward. This is why I never thought he would beat Floyd, even in his pre-Margarito prime years. I could just imagine Floyd picking him apart on the outside. The only thing that seemed distinctive about Cotto was his timing with the jab -- that was nice to see, but he didn't seem to use it as much as he should.

I haven't changed my opinion on the outcome of the fight...I still have Floyd winning handily. After watching some of the Cotto/Marg rematch, however, I do think Cotto looks better now than he did back in the day. He seems quicker and lighter on his feet, and when he fires combinations he lets them go while in motion before darting away again, something I much prefer to that style of standing in front of your opponent and digging them in. He's harder to catch with his 'move and combo' style. (I think he would have done better against Pac with this style, too.) He's still open for the uppercut on the inside, and I also think he could do with more head movement.

I like the fact that he's using the clinch more, as it's an invaluable tool to spoil the other guy's offence. He also seems to be boxing in more of an upright style, which I again prefer to that crouching style. The upright style can be good when you combine it with a nice jab, and Cotto has one of the best jabs around.

How should he approach a fight with Floyd? I don't really know his style well enough, but from what I've seen his jab is by far his best shot. The problem is that he doesn't have a tall, lanky build to combine with that jab, so I can see Floyd being able to use his pull-counter to neutralise it. Pac was able to counter Cotto's jab with his left straight, and a counter-punching expert like Floyd shouldn't have much trouble. Cotto should try and double it up at times to prevent being countered, and seeing as he's a boxer-puncher he should alternate between moving and boxing on the outside, and then pressing the action when Floyd is near the ropes.

Floyd is vulnerable to the 1-2 when he's at the ropes (jab to the body, right hand over the top). When Floyd adapts to that tactic, Cotto can switch to jabbing to the head then digging in his left-hook to the body, but that's a tough task. I rarely see Floyd getting hit with good bodyshots...even Hatton, who is a body punching specialist, didn't really land anything significant there. Worth a shot, though. I think for this fight Cotto should focus on the jab (to both body and head), better head movement, and using the left-hook as a counterpunch on the outside, while drawing Floyd in. Seeing as Floyd is using the high guard more often when coming forward, the left-hook to the body might also be open to him. Also, use the jab wisely -- rather than just flinging it out there now and then, time it as Mayweather steps in. Don't make it easy for him to counter. If he's got his guard lowered, baiting you for a pull-counter, then feint the jab, step away from his counter right, and counter with your own shot as he lunges in. Easier said than done, of course...

 

Yup. This is exactly why Judah beat Cotto.:roflatsch

 

exactly. he cheated against judah and miguel is my boy

 

A good thread , but fights are not fought on paper .

This will be very onesided.

Floyd by stoppage in 10 , in possibly his best perfomance since Chico.