So, Floyd Fans: Who Do You Have Beating Floyd at Welter in Boxing History

Lots of fighters. He's pretty small for the weight.

 

But the thing with De La Hoya is that he's far more proven against elite fighters and far more proven as a welterweight. Quartey faced a prime De La Hoya, who had better bounce in his step, better stamina, and sharper punches. And to many, he won the fight.

Vargas beat Quartey at 154 where he had already seen his best days go by. And he didn't beat Quartey by potshotting him, but rather being very physical with him, beating him on the inside, and taking him out of his comfort zone. That's the complete opposite how safety-first Mayweather would fight him.

Ike Quartey is a bad matchup for Floyd.

 

That list was only Welterweights, otherwise Loi would be on there. As it is, he stands as a JWW, so I didn't include him or many others.

 

Why do you think Mayweather destroys Cotto?

 

Quartey did beat DLH on mine and many other poster's cards, and that was a prime DLH, not the old, puffy, past prime version that PBF narrowly beat. He also lost to Vargas at 154 when past his prime, which says little about how a fight with Floyd would go.

 

I've always been on the fence with that one, but rewatching Starling against Honeyghan and a little against Breland, I think he's pretty underrated when completely focused. Could definitely see him beating Mayweather at 147.

 

You know I'd be rooting with ya

As for Prime DLH? HE WASNT THE MAN:nono The man was SSM:good

 

fraud will get tko against cotto between 10-12 rds i guarantee you

 

Here are my thoughts...

Technical pressure is the way to beat Floyd. Nobody in the welterweight division brings technical/educated pressure the way Cotto does. He's better than Jose Luis Castillo in this regard and a far more versatile fighter - he's got many more facets to his game than does Castillo. Not to mention he's much stronger, hits much harder, has has a great deal more quickness, and Floyd strength isn't as potent as it was at lightweight. Hatton brought a swarming style with roughhousing tactics, so it's stupid to compare the two as some do. Floyd has always fared better against swarmers who leave themselves open coming in as seen not only in his fight with Hatton, but also Jesus Chavez.

Cotto’s jab alone could offset Floyd, who has shown liabilities against right jabs at welterweight and at 150. Even in the Hatton fight, Ricky was timed him with a couple jabs early on. Floyd would lead with a left hook and Hatton would duck it or take a step back and time him with his own jab. But Ricky doesn't consistently throw the jab. When he did lead with it, those were the instances where he was able to get inside without taking crisp counter shots in the process. The problem with Hatton is his failure to work inside. I was screaming at the television, telling him to let his hands go with short combinations to the body and the head. But he holds, grapples, and throws an occasional punch.

A thing I noticed in the De La Hoya fight is that when Floyd is pressured by somebody who leads with a good left jab, he backs straight into the ropes. When he's on the ropes, he picks his spots and can be very sneaky. But his punch output also decreases which means he can be roughed up and outworked. On the ropes, I think Cotto would put him into somewhat of a shell. I believe that Cotto's activity and power would catch the attention of the judges in these occurrences.

Cotto has underrated speed of foot. He's not as fast as Hatton on his feet, but he is far more steady, intelligent, and consistent in his approach. No doubt he'd find a way to close the gap and make Floyd fight because Floyd doesn't give the same movement he used to at 130 or 135. As I mentioned before, on the inside, he is very fluid and throws short, accurate combinations upstairs and downstairs. Hatton, on the other hand, holds and grapples, which is effective at 140, but not against fighters at 147 whom he does not hold a strength advantage over. Cotto is more accurate and calculating than De La Hoya is on the inside. De La Hoya will let his hands go in flurries to catch the attention of the judges, but he's not as consistent as Cotto in close (because he lacks Cotto's stamina), nor is Oscar as accurate. Oscar is actually more of an outside fighter. He's never been as good when he has to bring the fight to somebody relentlessly.

People underrate Cotto's handspeed and timing too; he’s one of the quickest fighters in the division in terms of handspeed. He's mixes it up real well and is more unpredictable in his offensive attack than most give him credit for. Definitely a very cerebral fighter; Switches southpaw, switches back to orthodox, lead with different shots. He has the ability to change up the trajectory and angles of certain shots to catch faster fighters. He showed this against Quintana and Zab Judah, with the uppercut and left hook. I don't think there's a ribcage that Cotto can't find. And he's shown his ability to deal with quicker fighters (Mosley, Judah, Quintana, Malignaggi).

Cotto's defense is good enough for him not to get "check-hooked" or embarrassed with right hand leads. He fights very well out of the high guard to make up for the less than stellar head movement. Also, his jab on the way in helps him to take less damage (one of the reasons being because he tucks his chin behind his shoulder when he throws the punch, making it difficult to counter with right hands). Floyd would definitely hit him though with uppercuts and straight shots up the middle (probably stun him a few times), as Judah was able to do. But the lack of combinations at 147 from Floyd wouldn't be enough from keeping Cotto off of him or enough to make Cotto fight a tactical fight on the outside where he would be at a disadvantage. Floyd is stronger than he's given credit for, but he's definitely not as strong as Cotto or Mosley for that matter. This means that, unlike Mosley, Floyd wouldn't get Cotto on the backfoot, looking to counter as Mosley was.

Simply put, Cotto has all the tools to beat Floyd in my view. And I don't say this because I'm a big fan of Cotto. I call fights how I see them and I've never gone against Floyd in the past. On the other hand, I have gone against Cotto.

Floyd would have to fight with him for most of the fight he would get outworked, out muscled, and roughed up. Floyd would take some rounds based on his counter punching and clean punching. I see a 116-112 type decision on the scorecards.

If this fight happens in mid/late 2009, I think this works to Cotto's advantage because he's getting better and getting valuable experience, whereas Floyd's reflexes and speed are steadily decreasing (it's not rapid at all, but it's apparent when you compare the current 147 pound version with the versions from the lower weights).

 

i agree with everything with the exception being that cotto will stop him late

 

Those all sound like disadvantages Castillo shared. Now imagine a bigger, stronger, more powerful, and more verstile version of Castillo vs a slower, less mobile, lower workrate version of Floyd. That's the way I see it.

Unfortunately, Floyd is a cherry-picker, and is already writing a book on excuses as to why he doesn't need Cotto(but instead needs to take on the real tests, those tests being rematches with faded fighters he's already beaten) so neither of us will likely have the chance to prove each other wrong.

 

Certainly a possibility. Cotto thrives against pure boxers.