You're Miguel Cotto - How do you fight Floyd?

use the blueprint laid down by dela hoya.

a lot of jabs, work off from the jab.

 

Danm!!

 

I agree against Margo he did very well..but that was against an opponenet who just keeps walking forward...Floyd doesnt come forward like that he inches forward with small steps cutting the ring off and he still maintains a very good distance. I know i dont have to state it but as you know its just a different ball park.

Cotto is not that good at fighting on that back foot....the times he did that i remember vividly are Mosley and Margo....these two just dont present the same type of closing methods that Floyd imposes.

I highly doubt they will try this simply because they will feel they can bully Floyd at 154 and because they will want him to get body work in and come forward....get Floyd into the ropes or corner.

But hey you never know...nothing is written in stone.:good

 

focus on the body. make it rough and physical but don't do anything stupid like ortiz. don't worry about accuracy. do what marciano use to do. hit what you can even if your just banging his arms. hopefully hitting him in the arms enough times his defense will start to go down.

 

Also i think Cotto is succeptible to uppercuts.....i think we may see a decent amount in this fight from Floyd.

when Cotto uses his guard he tends to leave a decent size gap between his gloves and when he dodges punches he tends to bend str8 down and doesnt move his hips and head....could bend str8 into a good uppercut.

 

the jab is key.

i just want to see a great fight from my two fav fighters right now.

 

Why do people keep saying use the jab and then refer to Oscar? Oscar stopped throwing the jab because Floyd kept on going over the top on it. Oscar stopped because he got tired of getting hit.

To get back to this thread. He has to be like how Chael Sonnen was on Anderson Silva, don't let him think because once Floyd has you figured out and the right hand is landing, we all know what time it is.

 

Before the fight: close the camp down, make it like a quarantine, let no media or anyone who's not part of my team in or out. Get complete solitude from the outside world so that no one knows what I'm doing.

That done, hire Emmanuel Steward to advise Pedro Diaz, a little like how DLH had Alcazar and Gil Clancy both working for him at once.

In camp, focus on doing several things:

1) Work on uppercuts. These are one of Cotto's least-developed punches, and if he wants to get inside and work the body, he must improve these.

2) Work on cutting off the ring, to try and apply the educated pressure of JLC. The key would be to prevent Floyd from circling him and countering/pot-shotting him until Cotto gets tired/frustrated, at which point Floyd would start to get more aggressive and confident. Cotto would have to try and stay at mid-range though, lest he smother his own shots and lessen their power.

3) For when he is in close, work on clinching. Cotto only recently demonstrated this against Margarito, and it helped him a lot when he was in close. If he wants to not get elbowed/forearmed in the face in close, he'll have to be able to outmuscle Floyd, be able to tie him up, push him back, or lean his bigger frame on him for the uppercuts.

4) Cotto, a converted Southpaw, would be well-advised to train for fighting as a Southpaw as well, or else Floyd will be able to comfortably circle to his right the whole fight, as he would know, just like everyone else, that Cotto's left is far more dangerous. If Floyd is able to settle into a routine, that spells disaster for Cotto. Keeping Floyd guessing and unsure of what his opponent will do is thus important to fighting him, and one reason why many feel that a wild type of fighter would be the only way to make him uncomfortable. Cotto fighting Southpaw at times would be useful to keep Floyd from getting too comfortable or start cruising in one particular strategy.

During the fight:

At longer range, Cotto should switch up between Southpaw and Orthodox depending on what direction he thinks Mayweather will try and circle him in. A Cotto straight left would be an effective weapon, as would his jab and right hook should he train those during his camp. The shoulder roll is great at neutralizing the left hook and jab, but less so at the right hook and jab. Cotto's right cross is likely not powerful enough to rely on as an effective weapon at longer range.

When he's trying to close the distance, however, Cotto should return to fighting Orthodox, and thus keep his left hand closer to Floyd and in better position to land his best punch, the left hook to the body. Working the body would be a must for Cotto, as even when he's rolling with punches, Floyd seems very difficult to tag with a head shot, and Cotto would get very frustrated trying to swing at his head if he gets Floyd against the ropes. Even though fighting Floyd as a Southpaw in close would leave him with a somewhat better chance of getting him with the right hook to the head and such, that would also leave Cotto vulnerable in close to Floyd's right.

In the clinch, similarly, Cotto would be well-advised to generally stay in Orthodox to try and sneak in a few left hooks or uppercuts before the clinch is broken up. However,if Steward could teach him to do the old Lennox Lewis-esque "hold the head down with the lead hand, uppercut with the strong hand," a left uppercut from the Southpaw stance in close might work. But again, this is all contingent on how well Cotto can handle getting hit by Floyd's right in close.

Much of this fight boils down to how well Cotto can handle Floyd's punches, because he IS going to get hit. If Floyd can't hurt him/discourage him, he has a shot. If Floyd does hurt him though, he's in bad shape.

Thus, if I were Cotto, I'd try and train to make it so that it would be difficult for Floyd to predict what I was going to do at either range, and try to prevent him from getting comfortable on the outside, whilst also trying to bring my larger frame into play in close quarters, and focus primarily on the body, rather than get frustrated swinging at Floyd's elusive head in close.

Unfortunately, it might be too late in Cotto's career to train fighting in an alternate stance, or he might need a camp longer than 3 months.

 

are they using 10oz gloves?

 

man that was a prime floyd

 

The same way you boxed Margrito. Hit and run. It will of course be diffrent you know. Facing a guy with two good eyes, and really good boxing skills.

 

DO NOT BOX FLOYD IN THE CENTER OF THE RING!!! Have Miguel circle to his right to avoid Floyds lead right. Jab to the body and right hook upstairs. Fight one round orthodox the next southpaw to confuse Floyd. Fight close to the ropes to lure Floyd to come forward. Also important not to reach in especially vs Floyd. Its important to also double jab every now and then and feint alot. Its important Miguel doesn't try to knockout Floyd and be ready for 12 well executed rounds. Needs to keep his punches short and compact mostly.

I'd say if he can fight Floyd similar to how he fought Mosley and then some by not staying in front of Floyd unless Cotto has him on the ropes with a ripping body attack and over hand right or left that can land on Floyds forehead or top of his head while he's doing the shoulder roll Cotto can make Floyd regret taking the fight with him. Floyds face is hardest to connect his body should be first priority. Make Cotto throw lead rights to confuse Floyd followed by a left hook. Its vital Cotto fights off.backfoot too which he never does. That would also force Floyd to come forward. Floyd is a master wh does because he pays attention to detail even little things, but they in turn add up. Cotto may lack the skills of Floyd but with a plan maybe he can be what Norton was to Ali. Cotto has the ability to at least make it a close fight, but its up to him. He can if he takes this as the fight of his life. Cottos been thru alot he may have 1-2 great fights left. Timing is everything in boxing something both Floyd and Manny know very well.