The effects of "The Battle"

This is a legacy fight now..
The fighter who comes up short in this might never be able to recoup.
regardless of the punishment, someone going in will not come out the same.
[Pride, Attrition ect...]

 

And neither have any of the men who have ever been in the ring with Cotto-he hasn't lost yet, so we can't comment on his conquerors, unlike Margarita. The guy was being outboxed by Joshua Clottey and people think he's going to take out Cotto? First Cotto takes this oversized shmucks' body, and then he takes his chin. And then he takes Mexico's pride until they throw someone else at him.

 

Yea and that Cotto has been feeding on small welterweights and jr.welters. Don't leave that part out.

A past it Shane Mosley gave him a run for his money. Margarito will as well.

I'd think of all people you would know how hard it is to play defense when you have a sprained ankle on the backfoot.

My guess is he'll be taking a nap before that happens.

 

This content is protected

 

Doubtful. As bad as it is trying to box with a leg injury, I know it's worse trying to box with a hand injury, and that's what Clottey did. It's not that Margarito's defense was bad-it was virtually non existant. Having a sprained ankle doesn't stop you from at least keeping your hands up, moving your head, and not leaping in with your chin in the air.

 

Weighing what is harder isn't what I was getting at. You know what I said.

How hard is it to step onto a sprained ankle to get out of the way of left hooks and counter rights?

Take a look at other Margarito fights and see how he always steps onto that backfoot to avoid the counters of his opponents. Those of you who are banking on seeing the same Margarito from the Clottey fight are in for a very rude awakening.

 

What a salad eater... Go kiss your boyfriend, sweetheart.

 

I'm not expecting even that. I'm expecting a guy who's a decent fighter who's not of the same caliber as Miguel Cotto, and is a victim of the PR his promoter put off about how dangerous and avoided he is.

 

Don't both Cotto and Margarito have the same promoter in Bob Arum?

 

Yes, and they've each been promoted differently. Cotto is the real deal, he is one of the best in the sport. Margarito is a good fighter who's marketing and publicity was that he was this feared destroyer because he's so big and strong; and it's going to be exposed that he's not that, he's just a good fighter who isn't the same caliber as the true elites.

 

I see that you would expect Cotto to take care of business on July 26th. However, if Margarito wins, will you be very surprised if he pulled off the upset? Would you consider it an upset?

 

While some expect the Margarito who showed up against Clottey, I expect the one who showed up against Lujan. One who will be a pest but responsible and will maintain his reach. Anytime he's countered or attacked his guard will close up and he'll take a step back. He's done it before so I have no reason to doubt he'd do it again. And in the Lujan fight Margarito proved he can still throw a 100 punches per round while fighting off the backfoot.

I think they'll take that gameplan and make some adjustments about how he approaches his offense. But a same type of cautious, busy approach will beat Cotto.

July 26th will show who is right and who is wrong.

 

Yes, I would be surprised, yes, I would consider it a big upset.

 

Just like Margarito is better than shown against Clottey, Cotto is no ****ing Lujan. You can get away with certain things against certain guys that you can't pull on others. Personally I think Margarito's style is all wrong to beat Cotto; as well as just not being as good all around as him, and that's why I expect him to lose.

 

I was expecting that.

No Cotto is not Lujan, but there is a universal limitation here in that both Lujan and Cotto are short, stocky opponents. If Margarito keeps his distance he will make Cotto have to jump in no different than Lujan.

I expect Cotto to be a little less wild and a little more cute with his approach but I expect him to be trying to get inside and Margarito trying to keep him outside with that pestering jab. The best boxers have been broken down by physical disadvantages when the bigger man knows what to do. We saw it in the Toney-Peter 2 fight. We saw it in the Byrd - W.Klitschko fights. And we saw it in a multitude of other fights. When the bigger man establishes the long jab and makes the smaller man come forward he becomes much more ordinary.

Also since the Lujan fight Margarito has refined this style. He refined it against Cintron as well as against Johnson. That uppercut is very sneaky now and can easily get Cotto if Cotto leans inside. Something he obviously will have to do if Margarito doesn't give up his height. It might come off the jab, or it might come off the right cross. Or it might even set up the left hook. Point being those uppercuts are going to be a hazard for the smaller Cotto all night long. And it's really only a matter of when, not if, those punches get through.