Prime for Prime: Cotto vs Marquez

Cotto was at his best at 147, Marquez was 35 when he beat Diaz. Prime for Prime cotto is too big and strong he stops Marquez, even if he gets stunned or hurt if he gets too agressive.

 

agreeing with contro here. marquez was prime at 126 or 130 and cotto was at his apex at 147 going into margarito 1

to me a fantasy fight never made sense. though after pac 4 they probably could have fought at a catchweight

 

but for the sake of the topic marquez for years was a favorite of mine great counter puncher especially in combination and could go to war.

cotto got stung in multiple fights and out boxed for stretches vs clottey but his jab could compete and was a hard jab. he has one of the best hooks in the business

I will say he is a little bit of a 1 handed fighter

I saw katsidis drop Juan with a big left hook I think cotto does the same

 

Marquez was not prime at 140 but, for the sake of argument, Cotto takes this.

 

You cant base that something will happen because Marquez got dropped by Katsidis.
Marquez had little respect for Katsidis and its mainly the reason why he got dropped against him.
Marquez was just letting his combinations flow without regard for incoming against Katsidis, something he would b
unlikely to do vs Cotto.

For me, Cotto is a good fighter but a bit overrated.
When it comes down to it, he lost the most important fights of his career against Margarito and Pacquiao, as well I thought he lost the Mosley and Clottey fights as well.
To me, Cotto got beat the the best competition he faced.

Name the weight 147 and below, he wouldn't beat any version of Juan Manuel Marquez.

.......and if you want to talk p4p, the 140 lbs version of Cotto vs 126 lbs version of Marquez, imo Marquez beats Cotto comfortably, much the easy way he beat good fighters like Orlando Salido.

 

I wasnt doing a "look he got dropped by a left hook so it means that will happen here" I just think Cotto might be a bridge too far in size and power thats all. I was mostly thinking of the hook that dropped Marquez and the one that dropped Geale just for the power/size comparison

Actually Marquez even vs better fighters and ones he respected got dropped, he got very over zealous against Manny when he thought he had him hurt and was dropped. He got dropped vs Barrera though it didnt get called and Diaz came out fast and had Marquez looking unsteady along the ropes as did Manny blitzing him in the first round. Bradley also caught him by surprise nearly dropping him late

Marquez was a great technical fighter but even he had lapses and Cotto in his prime was a hell of a puncher. I think Cotto would win but Marquez could possibly make it very interesting

I agree with what you wrote about Cotto, I was never a fan of his though he has a great style and some great punches offensively. I mean he did have some lackluster title wins and got overrated especially due to the Floyd and Martinez fights

I just think gut wise Cotto would win, but we will never know

 

Pacquiao is a whole different phenomena when it comes to dropping fighters, the man if southpaw and he comes at and throws punches from the weirdest angles. Cotto is basically a jab and hook fighters, much more easier for a fighter the pedigree of Marquez to read.

I'm trying to think of other fighters that have dropped Marquez, andyes you pointed out Barrera. Look at the round, Marquez had MAB in deep trouble and almost ready to get stopped, that's when the carelessness in Marquez factors in and why he got dropped vs MAB as well.
I'll note as well that MAB is a better fighter than Cotto, even the version Marquez faced which imo was still a good version of MAB.

You know, Marquez became a fighter that fought to the level of his opposition once he left 126 lbs.
He felt the need to become that in order to land fights as the top tier fighters didn't want to fight him.
Could have just boxed circles around Baby Bull, but if he did that it would have been a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision the boxing world would not have taken notice of, and that that point he was looking to land a third Pacquiao fight.

Bottom line though for me, both at the very best, no way Cotto is in the ballpark to win vs Marquez.
Marquez simply is just on another level, the A level. I'd rate Cotto as a high B level fighter at his very best.

 

Marquez out boxes Cotto relatively easily for a UD...

 

P4P and achievement wise Marquez is ahead of Cotto by some distance I feel.

Marquez is too small to fight Cotto H2H. Marquez like Pacman are lower weight fighters who have dared to be amazing by fighting several weight classes higher than their peaks.

 

ask pacman who was better?