Ward fights very similar to Cotto...what Cotto should be.

I saw Ward fight some guy last night...(can't remember his name), and he didn't clinch at all, and he looked even better than the fight with Miranda! This guy is very, very good! And if you say that wasn't an exciting fight, then maybe you do need to watch something more brutal, like mma. My main point in this thread was not to focus on what Ward, does and doesn't do, it was to say that he reminded me a lot of Cotto. He has a lot of similarities, but he is more effective, fights smarter, or something. He's more polished and his style seems more refined. It really shows Cotto's rough edges when you compare the 2 in their fights. Cotto should study Ward very carefully. I think he'd make a great role model. Cotto has been his own trainer for too long. But as good as Ward is, I haven't even seen Kessler fight yet. He was billed on the fightcard, but they didn't show it. I was pissed! Lol. I wanna see this guy so i can bet. But from his record and what I've heard, I think Kessler's going to take the tourney. His biggest obstacle might be Ward.

The ward/miranda fight wasn't boring at all.. Your an idot if you think so. Go watch the UFC flamer. It was boring because Miranda barely landed anything, the guy is too one-dimensional.

Sure choose one, Ive seen many of his fights. He's in the Bhop mold in that he has the mindset of "I'm gonna do everything I want to do to you, but youre not going to get anything on me", the old hit and not get hit, by any means necessary, I love that mentality. He used it quite well against the Russian guy whose name I can't remember (i'll google or you tube it) but that was the amateur style score-clinch- disengage- score clinch very effective in the Ams, but he has definitely altered his style for the pros. As I said before though, I just worry about that uppercut if he males a mistake and telegraphs it. SHould be a bloody good fight mind you.

That was few and far between when the fighters would come together from coming forward, I dont consider that clinching. Its still clever fighting - can I cheat and choose an Amateur fight? LOL

LOL, Cotto isnt in the same league as Ward as far as boxing skills.. Cottos defense is terrible and has terrible reflexes

Undefeated yes, and I bet no poster on this board can name another fight where they saw Ward clinch, like I said its a strategy, they talk like he does it all the time, name me one other fight that he clinched, they cant. The Cantrell fight - he used his arm brilliantly to tie up Cantrell's left (when he wasn't beating the shit out of him!!) it reminded me of how Calzaghe neutrilised Lacys left (again when he wasn't beating the shit out of him!!

say whaat? cotto doesnt even know how to clinch, ward its an expert ( not that its a bad thing its just boring ) and cotto does have power My point is once Cotto starts backing up, he's losing confidence. That's why i say he needs to learn an alternative for "taking a breather", or getting out of a danger zone fast...thus he needs to humble himself and learn to clinch when he starts to feel overwhelmend. Backing up means disaster for Cotto. Ali Cliched a lot. So did Fazier. So did Foreman.

Thats boxing, Ward clinched for a reason and he didnt do it excessively, when you have to resort to name calling it shows a lack of knowledge. Knowing when to clinch is a great tool in the armoury of the boxer, Ali used the clinch extremely well, but normally at the end of a ten punch combination! Bernard uses it, perhaps too well, but I do enjoy technicians fight, its the same with sports like rugby - where the scrum and the maul are considered boring by some people, but to those who know how difficult they are they have their own beauty. Ward uses the clinch too much and at this point of his career makes mistakes that someone like Bernard doesn't, I think he could find himself at the end of a few nasty uppercuts if he doesn't get it right. If Ward does loose, which on balance I think he will, it is not the end of the world, he is 24 and has a minimun of 6 years or so to continue improving.

Ward sucked in that fight. He held on against C class opponent. He is doing an diservice to boxing by clinching as much. I think Kessler got this one btw I agree to a point with you...He cliched a little too much, but he also kicked ass! He won in obvious fashion. No doubts...wasn't even that close. It was the 1st time i saw him fight, so he might have done much better in other fights, right? thank you for helping me make my point! He IS undefeated, isn't he?

say whaat? cotto doesnt even know how to clinch, ward its an expert ( not that its a bad thing its just boring ) and cotto does have power

Ward sucked in that fight. He held on against C class opponent. He is doing an diservice to boxing by clinching as much. I think Kessler got this one btw

Cotto doesn't need to clinch, he is fine as he is. If you look at gif images of Cotto and Pacquiao you see Cotto got caught while rushing in with punches. He would rush in throw wild punches, then Manny would move back and come forward with an uppercut. Clinchers are so boring to watch. Everybody is entitled to their own taste in boxing tactics, and Cotto is FAR from being fine as he is. He needs to re-iinvent himself. I am far from being a boxing expert, but his flaws are obvious even to me. And one of the biggest is his trainer and corner. reconstructive surgery on the nose and Clottey eye cut. If that cut opens, it's all over. Fire them all, including family members, keep them out of his boxing career completly, and no offense to obese people, but Cotto don't need to be hanging around such morbidly obese people who chow down while you are starvin' trying to make weight. He looked pissed in the last 24/7 watching his big friend chow down. And bad habits are easier to form than good ones. He don't need to be around people with bad habits. He need to surround himself with healthy positive influences, and no unhealthy distractions.

Thats boxing, Ward clinched for a reason and he didnt do it excessively, when you have to resort to name calling it shows a lack of knowledge. That is one thing Cotto has to learn to do , clinch, instead of backpeddling. That's one of his biggest flaws. It puts him in the mindset of retreat. Nothing wrong with clinching to avoid getting hit with a bomb, or if you sense you might be in trouble if you don't. Cotto hates clinching, and has choosen to back-up instead to "take a breather"...bad move. Cotto like to be the agressor, the stalker, he needs to set his own pace and keep it during the fight, and fight HIS fight. Clinching is fine, but I agree, Freddie, too much can make for a boring fight. He just needs to learn an alternative to backpeddling. He's always best coming forward, stalking. I don't think we will ever see a boring Cotto fight, no matter how he modifies his sytle, if the stubborn bastard has the brains to do. A complete overhaul and a good rest are in very much needed.