what i have here is a wish for miguel cotto and his team. first an historical anacdote.
back in the day jess willard defeted the legendary jack johnson for the heavyweight title. in doing so willards confidence took off so much so that he had no doubt in his mind going into a defence of the title against jack dempsey in 1919.
dempsey beat willard in that match and the result was twofold. willard lost his title and his confidence. he decided against pursuing a rematch in favor of retirement.
i can only speculate on the status of miguel cotto's confidence. however i can say this as well, cotto in my estimation is too smart not to be shook to a degree.
here is what i wish for cotto and if i run out of room, i will continue in a next post. the decision he has openly made to carry on with his boxing career maybe a good one. however, the delicacy of the prospect should be paid great attention to.
the announced plan to move up in weight is illbegotten. cont...
nobody is claiming him a statistic
i'm only stating that there is a very great chance that while 154 is not loaded like 147 is, cotto runs too great a risk trying to be effective up there.
not when now he's been beaten twice at welter once by a guy with loaded gloves and the other by manny pacquiao, he now has an opportunity to wreak havoc on all the welters who will underestimate him.
if cotto feels he can handle an opponent with a height and reach advantage, which he can, he should not move up in weight to do so. if he tries he will most likely go by the way of marquez vs mayweather jr. that is what is waiting for cotto if he faces yuri forman.
instead what might serve miguel cotto and company well would be to call out paul the punisher williams, who apparently still thinks he can make 147 and give it a go.
williams is a tall order for cotto, literally. i have seen flaws in cotto's style that can be fixxed. williams would provide an exciting challenge for cotto and his fans, one that given some improvement to his moves, he would win.
moving up is too rash and simple a move, considering forman is a top rank fighter. anything worth doing can never be that easy.
Well said. Excellent analysis. This is presicesly what I fear as a Cotto stan. Then again, Cotto is Cotto and thus, nobody's statistic. Fail.
Cotto KO7 Yuri Foreman
feeling like he is not the same can be remidied with one good win.
each lbs. makes a difference. the 2 lbs. he had to shed made some difficulty. now go 7 lbs. up? too much can go wrong.
putting on that much to cotto's frame quickly for a fight without it materialising in his midsection. is a trick too new to attempt at this juncture
at the elite champions level we are talking about, the slightest concession in mobility can spell disaster.
the guy who said that there was no need for a willard dempsey rematch was correct. and so was willard.
i'm hoping cotto will decide to keep fighting without marching straigh into a fight where he'd be overmatched again.
i mean if he wants pacquiao soon, then he's delusional. i believe miguel cotto knows that better than you or i. or anyone
cashing in is not worth the consequences if it means fighting the guys you mentioned when his last fight proves he isn't currently at that level.
Johnson was 30 when he finally captured the heavyweight title and wasnt nowhere near his prime by the time willard got to him. Willard was limited and Dempsey, having the quickness and the heavy hands simply destroyed him, there was no point in the rematch.
Williard was also losing badly before the older Johnson ran out of gas. They purposely scheduled that fight an unheard of 45 rounds which was not the norm at that time. They did this because they knew Johnson was old and inactive. All Williard had to do was outlast Johnson and he did.
I think Cotto realizes he's not the same and is thinking 2 fights and out. A win over Foreman, means he can lure Manny or Mayweather for the 154 title for big bucks and win or lose he can step out. I think it's a pretty good strategy to cash in. He has a good chance against Foreman and he doesn't have to weight drain for a good stretch which is good for him. JMO
BTW I don't think he has any interest in campaigning at 154.
berto maybe a better choice if it can be negotiated. not because cotto would have a better chance. on the contrary. berto would be better all around. first berto is still undefeated. next williams has a loss all be it avenged, anyone who saw his last fight with sergio martinez and thinks the scoring was fair, must be fatter in the pockets for it.
for me, my pockets were fattened by it. however, like sugar leanard when he talks about his rematch draw with tommy hearns, i have to admidt paul williams lost that fight to martinez.
glad to have a discussion though. i believe either berto or williams would do to to pass a cotto test. either would bring a nice audience draw to compliment cotto's.
berto had to pull out with shane mosely. it might be fitting if he tried to step up to cotto who handed shane one of his defeats.
couldnt agree more, good post.
toprank fighters should be warry of tendencies of bob arum at the top are subject to the circumstances of his age. at arums age, he may mistaking rush desisions.
realistically he is so accomplished, arum that he may only need presentation to bring him back to his wisdom.
i take it you are a cotto fan, rrican. so perhaps you will delight in the criticism i offer of your last post on this thread, even if i'm taking you a smidge out of context.
even years into cottos future retirement, i don't think i will ever be able to say miguel cotto doesn't care about boxing.
of course i realise that you mean he doesn't care to box anymore, if he goes ahead against yuri foreman.
however, again i'll respectfully disagree. i think the coldwar between toprank and goldenboy born of the mayweather jr., pacquiao squables has brought out a response in both to make inhouse matchups while they each lick wounds.
hopefully this response will be temporary as it is ultimately inthe best interest of all, the fighters, promoters, and fans to create matchups that involve competing interests from top to bottom.
foreman cotto would be an inhouse solution that would be an example of toprank cutting off it's own nose to spite it's face.
berto maybe a better choice if it can be negotiated. not because cotto would have a better chance. on the contrary. berto would be better all around. first berto is still undefeated. next williams has a loss all be it avenged, anyone who saw his last fight with sergio martinez and thinks the scoring was fair, must be fatter in the pockets for it.
for me, my pockets were fattened by it. however, like sugar leanard when he talks about his rematch draw with tommy hearns, i have to admidt paul williams lost that fight to martinez.
glad to have a discussion though. i believe either berto or williams would do to to pass a cotto test. either would bring a nice audience draw to compliment cotto's.
berto had to pull out with shane mosely. it might be fitting if he tried to step up to cotto who handed shane one of his defeats.
if he choose to fight berto he still cares about boxing for the simple reason that he will have another chance to fight top fighters like pac, mosley or even floyd jr if he gets the W . if he goes foreman it means hes done with boxing jmo bro!!! :boxing:
head trainer. despite criticism of santiago's youth and inexperience. his positives far outweigh his negatives.
youth on one hand is nagative but the energy it holds is very much a positive. plus.. santiago has two excellent qualities. they are loyalty and willingness and desire to learn.
those are actually the two best qualities anyone can ever ask for.
that jives with my point i think. i mean it agrees.
i'd say going directly to yuri forman a champ at 154 is bighting a bit much.
it jumps the border from brave to wrong headed.
if forman is looking for a payday, let him call cory spinks who can always draw crowds in st. louis, and is a notably game fighter.
please don't suggest cotto vs. spinks , for your reason. if he takes the one at 154, he'll only run into the next. miguel cotto has enough challenges at the welterweight devision, he shouldn't hamper himself with the usual decrease in speed and power that accompany weightgain.
cotto may have bad memory of making 145 for his last fight, but that's no reason to overcompensate.
the defense as you point out is at least as important. i have plenty of technical instruction i could give to cotto. however, i'd have to be retained by team cotto before dispensing it. also under the condition that miguel cotto must keep joe santiago as his. cont.
if cotto feels he can handle an opponent with a height and reach advantage, which he can, he should not move up in weight to do so. if he tries he will most likely go by the way of marquez vs mayweather jr. that is what is waiting for cotto if he faces yuri forman.
instead what might serve miguel cotto and company well would be to call out paul the punisher williams, who apparently still thinks he can make 147 and give it a go.
williams is a tall order for cotto, literally. i have seen flaws in cotto's style that can be fixxed. williams would provide an exciting challenge for cotto and his fans, one that given some improvement to his moves, he would win.
moving up is too rash and simple a move, considering forman is a top rank fighter. anything worth doing can never be that easy.
IMHO there's only 1 thing that can turn Cotto's career around; Defense
Ever since he was at 140 he was always lacking in defense and fighter would take advantage, he would get rocked but not stopped. Once he went up to 147 all those shots to the chin started to make a dent. I think he could win a few fights at 154 but once he faces a fighter who sees this weakness they will take him out.
berto maybe a better choice if it can be negotiated. not because cotto would have a better chance. on the contrary. berto would be better all around. first berto is still undefeated. next williams has a loss all be it avenged, anyone who saw his last fight with sergio martinez and thinks the scoring was fair, must be fatter in the pockets for it.
for me, my pockets were fattened by it. however, like sugar leanard when he talks about his rematch draw with tommy hearns, i have to admidt paul williams lost that fight to martinez.
glad to have a discussion though. i believe either berto or williams would do to to pass a cotto test. either would bring a nice audience draw to compliment cotto's.
berto had to pull out with shane mosely. it might be fitting if he tried to step up to cotto who handed shane one of his defeats.
if cotto feels he can handle an opponent with a height and reach advantage, which he can, he should not move up in weight to do so. if he tries he will most likely go by the way of marquez vs mayweather jr. that is what is waiting for cotto if he faces yuri forman.
instead what might serve miguel cotto and company well would be to call out paul the punisher williams, who apparently still thinks he can make 147 and give it a go.
williams is a tall order for cotto, literally. i have seen flaws in cotto's style that can be fixxed. williams would provide an exciting challenge for cotto and his fans, one that given some improvement to his moves, he would win.
moving up is too rash and simple a move, considering forman is a top rank fighter. anything worth doing can never be that easy.
kinda agree, but not with the punisher i will like to see cotto vs berto. they are better matched and berto does not have a lot of power.cotto can handle speed :boxing:
Johnson was 30 when he finally captured the heavyweight title and wasnt nowhere near his prime by the time willard got to him. Willard was limited and Dempsey, having the quickness and the heavy hands simply destroyed him, there was no point in the rematch.
if cotto feels he can handle an opponent with a height and reach advantage, which he can, he should not move up in weight to do so. if he tries he will most likely go by the way of marquez vs mayweather jr. that is what is waiting for cotto if he faces yuri forman.
instead what might serve miguel cotto and company well would be to call out paul the punisher williams, who apparently still thinks he can make 147 and give it a go.
williams is a tall order for cotto, literally. i have seen flaws in cotto's style that can be fixxed. williams would provide an exciting challenge for cotto and his fans, one that given some improvement to his moves, he would win.
moving up is too rash and simple a move, considering forman is a top rank fighter. anything worth doing can never be that easy.