(Warning: Thinking Intensive)
A lot of the discussion on who will win Saturday night hinges on who boxing fans think is more "shot." As always, in boxing you are only as good as your last fight. So it makes a lot of sense that the boxing public is giving Cotto an edge in terms of who has more left in the tank. However, a lot of this is based on Margarito's last fight, a beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. Also, his fight before that against Roberto Garcia, which fans considered to be just an okay performance. However, note that it has been confirmed by Team Margarito that Margarito was making a conscious effort to put rounds under his belt after an extended period of inactivity.
So, this brings us to Cotto. 2-0 in his last two fights, both won by convincing stoppage. But, consider the opposition. A relatively unproven Yuri Foreman who was fighting without one of his legs.. And was consequently knocked out again in his very next fight, this time by one Pawel Wolak. Also, the Wolak stoppage ocurred even sooner and when Foreman was at full health. The next fight was against what remains of consumate under achiever Ricardo Mayorga.
So supposing Antonio Margarito's last two fights were against Foreman and Mayorga and he won them both by equally convincing stoppages. And imagine everyone's last memory of Cotto was his knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao. Is it possible to say that perhaps the boxing public would be viewing Cotto as the more "shot" fighter and NOT Margarito? Basing such an important determination(who's more shot) on such subjective information leads to the type of smoke in mirrors that results in upsets.
I think at the very least it would be incredibly more reasonable to assume both men are equally "shot" or that the variable in this situation was negligible. Which would only bring us right back to where both men were in 2008 when they last met. Wraps aside of course since it's impossible to know for sure exactly the impact of what was in Margarito's gloves(or if there was anything illegal in them or not, although I think there was).
I'm a big Cotto fan, and this thread's intention is simply to point out Margarito may not be as shot(at least in relation to Cotto's shotness) as many think he is. Thoughts, disagreements? Please discuss! :boxing::boxing:
You bring up good points but honestly, if Cotto was able to ALMOST go the distance against a faster, technically better, with as much stamina as Margarito, dynamic combination punching southpaw named Manny Pacquiao...why not against Margarito?
Add to that, he's fighting in New York and, as I said in a prediction thread I opened, if Margarito is fighting evenly with him, the close rounds will favor Cotto (not because he's the champion, but because he's in MSG). Cotto can throw a seven-punch combination, have only two of them land and the crowd will go nuts influencing judges. It shouldn't be like that but that's how it is.
Overall, I still think Margarito has the style to beat Cotto, but with so many hurdles he has to overcome (never MIND the eye factor)...I think Cotto should clearly be the favorite and rightfully so. If Margarito can do a repeat of the first fight in MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (stopping Cotto)...I'm wearing an Antonio Margarito avatar with red letters stamped on the pic saying "CERTIFIED BAD-ASS". And you can quote me on that or bump the topic after the fight... :D
TintaBoricua loves boxingscene! :popcorn:
There is plenty of evidence to support your position as well. I do think though that Pacquiao practically had Cotto ready to go around 4. A couple more punches at the right moment and it woudl have been game over. However Cotto was hurt enough that he got on his bike(and for good reason.)
The thing is, as we've seen Pacquiao is a lot less effective at hurting opponents when they move away from him.. He really does just follow them instead of cutting off the ring. As evidenced by Mosley.. And we wouldn't say that it was impressive that Mosley survived Pacquiao..
I think we'll get a lot of answers on Saturday that we may not be expecting, myself included. But. I think Cotto needs to box to win this fight. Margarito is still a lot bigger than Cotto and Imo tough as nails. I think Cotto won't be able to resist getting into exchanges with Margarito. I think Cotto will be back peddaling(you know the back peddaling I'm talking about, not moving side to side and putting in work) by the 6th round if not sooner. Cotto's punch resistance is very low at this stage. I think Cotto is going to fade hard if he allows himself to trade with Margarito...
If you're Cotto, how will you resist the following:
- An electric atmosphere building from a STACKED undercard of action fights
- A sold out arena of mostly 20,000 Puerto Ricans all screaming for Margarito's head on a platter
- The fact that Margarito is extremely easy to hit at all times
- The likeliehood that Margarito will be talking sh** and taunting Cotto in the ring..
Personally I think Cotto is too proud not to respond to the above factors and allow this to become a shootout or even a fight where he stands in front of Margarito with any regularity. And unfortunately, I think obliging Margarito and exchanging with him would result in Cotto running out of steam short of the full 12.
To further support my point about a fighter's current value being overly attached to his last performance. I was looking at the Cotto Foreman Highlights and noticed that at the beginning of the fight. Kellerman was speaking about Cotto the same way a lot of people are currently speaking about Margarito.
People forget this, but the public also questioned whether Cotto still had a place in the sport in terms of what was left in him after he lost to Pacquiao as well. It's simply the result of the overwhelming way Pacquiao dismantles his opponents and wins.
"The boxing world is curious does Miguel Cotto still want to fight? Does he still really want to fight?"
You bring up good points but honestly, if Cotto was able to ALMOST go the distance against a faster, technically better, with as much stamina as Margarito, dynamic combination punching southpaw named Manny Pacquiao...why not against Margarito?
Add to that, he's fighting in New York and, as I said in a prediction thread I opened, if Margarito is fighting evenly with him, the close rounds will favor Cotto (not because he's the champion, but because he's in MSG). Cotto can throw a seven-punch combination, have only two of them land and the crowd will go nuts influencing judges. It shouldn't be like that but that's how it is.
Overall, I still think Margarito has the style to beat Cotto, but with so many hurdles he has to overcome (never MIND the eye factor)...I think Cotto should clearly be the favorite and rightfully so. If Margarito can do a repeat of the first fight in MADISON SQUARE GARDEN (stopping Cotto)...I'm wearing an Antonio Margarito avatar with red letters stamped on the pic saying "CERTIFIED BAD-ASS". And you can quote me on that or bump the topic after the fight... :D
TintaBoricua loves boxingscene! :popcorn:
(Warning: Thinking Intensive)
A lot of the discussion on who will win Saturday night hinges on who boxing fans think is more "shot." As always, in boxing you are only as good as your last fight.. So it makes a lot of sense that the boxing public is giving Cotto an edge in terms of who has more left in the tank. However, a lot of this is based on Margarito's last fight, a beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. Also, his fight before that against Roberto Garcia, which fans considered to be just an okay performance. However, note that it has been confirmed by Team Margarito that Margarito was making a conscious effort to put rounds under his belt after an extended period of inactivity.
So, this brings us to Cotto. 2-0 in his last two fights, both won by convincing stoppage. But, consider the opposition. A relatively unproven Yuri Foreman who was fighting without one of his legs.. And was consequently knocked out again in his very next fight, this time by one Pawel Wolak. Also, the Wolak stoppage ocurred even sooner and when Foreman was at full health. The next fight was against what remains of consumate under achiever Ricardo Mayorga.
So supposing Antonio Margarito's last two fights were against Foreman and Mayorga and he won them both by equally convincing stoppages. And imagine everyone's last memory of Cotto was his knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao. Is it possible to say that perhaps the boxing public would be viewing Cotto as the more "shot" fighter and NOT Margarito? Basing such an important determination(who's more shot) on such subjective information leads to the type of smoke in mirrors that results in upsets.
I think at the very least it would be incredibly more reasonable to assume both men are equally "shot" or that the variable in this situation was negligible. Which would only bring us right back to where both men were in 2008 when they last met. Wraps aside of course since it's impossible to know for sure exactly the impact of what was in Margarito's gloves(or if there was anything illegal in them or not, although I think there was).
I'm a big Cotto fan, and this thread's intention is simply to point out Margarito may not be as shot(at least in relation to Cotto's shotness) as many think he is. Thoughts, disagreements? Please discuss! :boxing::boxing:
To further support my point about a fighter's current value being overly attached to his last performance. I was looking at the Cotto Foreman Highlights and noticed that at the beginning of the fight. Kellerman was speaking about Cotto the same way a lot of people are currently speaking about Margarito.
People forget this, but the public also questioned whether Cotto still had a place in the sport in terms of what was left in him after he lost to Pacquiao as well. It's simply the result of the overwhelming way Pacquiao dismantles his opponents and wins.
"The boxing world is curious does Miguel Cotto still want to fight? Does he still really want to fight?"
cotto is more mentally damaged, marg more physically.
Marg is mentally still phenomenal. Cotto on the other hand does have his own physical damage as well.
You should stop posting, Drew. Honestly, I think your career as a BS poster has been over since 2010.
You're shot to shit, buddy. :killyou:
:lol1:
I'm an NSB journeyman, prime Drew would have included pics and more pwns in this thread!
I don't know why but people are obsessed with retiring and dismissing people whenever they fall short. Even in situations when a poor performance is clearly the result of style.
You should stop posting, Drew. Honestly, I think your career as a BS poster has been over since 2010.
You're shot to shit, buddy. :killyou:
:lol1:
Medically speaking, he wasn't as bad off as most think Tony is right now, so I'll give you that.
But my boy JMM was getting touched up by inferior lightweights like Casamayor, Diaz, and Katsidis. Over the past 3 years he's clearly been getting hit with more and more punches that he would have avoided with ease 5 years ago.
And I also recall people saying he wouldn't recover from the Mayweather beating. :lol1:
I don't know why but people are obsessed with retiring and dismissing people whenever they fall short. Even in situations when a poor performance is clearly the result of style.
No way...shane doesnt even throw punches anymore he just shakes, and shane gasses out in 4 rounds now.
yeah, i agree. shane is a good example of a shot/past prime fighter. it's not just that he gasses early now but he just doesn't seem to have that warrior mentality he used to show.
Medically speaking, he wasn't as bad off as most think Tony is right now, so I'll give you that.
But my boy JMM was getting touched up by inferior lightweights like Casamayor, Diaz, and Katsidis. Over the past 3 years he's clearly been getting hit with more and more punches that he would have avoided with ease 5 years ago.
And I also recall people saying he wouldn't recover from the Mayweather beating. :lol1:
Cotto and Margarito have both taken two VERY bad beatings now that Marquez has never taken. The type of beatings that ruin fighters. The way Cotto looked against Foreman and Mayorga, I'd say he's at least a little worse than past prime. And Margarito, he may well be shot, and at best is in the same condition Cotto is in.
I'm still jacked for the fight, because they are close enough in their careers that this is still a damn good matchup, but it is quite possible that this is the fight that finishes off the loser.
Completely agree.
I understand people being concerned with Tony's eye, but writing him off as "shot" is just as stupid as writing Cotto off as being "shot", IMO.
Cotto broke Paulie Malignaggi's orbital bone in their fight : Yet Paulie bounded back from it just fine.
Remember how everybody thought Ray Leonard's detached retina was going to keep him retired for good? Then he came back and put on one of the greatest comeback performances of all time against Marvin Hagler.
People need to stop jumping to such ridiculous conclusions everytime a fighter gets their ass beat. Newsflash : Everybody not named "Mayweather" is capable of catching an ass beating from their equal (or superior) on any given night.
Yeah, none of us are eye experts. Although you wouldn't know it if you browsed NSB for very long. Although I do admit it is a very real possibility his eye reacts poorly to this fight, there's no way of accurately anticipating the effects of the eye. It's definitely a wait and see sort of factor.
I have a feeling there will be a point when Cotto lands fairly flush on that side of Margarito's face. And Margarito responds by smiling at him and urging him to bring it more. It will be hilarious if Margs goes so far as to wink at Cotto with the eye and HBO catches it on camera.
No way...shane doesnt even throw punches anymore he just shakes, and shane gasses out in 4 rounds now.
Cotto and Margarito didn't look much better against Pacquiao than Mosley did against Pac and Mayweather. Cotto did alright, but went down hard. Mosley looked that bad because of who he was fighting, like Cotto and Margarito he could still beat journeyman and fringe contenders.
I mostly agree, but while shot may be harsh Cotto and Margarito are damn close. There in the same state that Shane Mosley is right now. Marquez wasn't looking as bad as these two at any point.
Medically speaking, he wasn't as bad off as most think Tony is right now, so I'll give you that.
But my boy JMM was getting touched up by inferior lightweights like Casamayor, Diaz, and Katsidis. Over the past 3 years he's clearly been getting hit with more and more punches that he would have avoided with ease 5 years ago.
And I also recall people saying he wouldn't recover from the Mayweather beating. :lol1:
There in the same state that Shane Mosley is right now.
No way...shane doesnt even throw punches anymore he just shakes, and shane gasses out in 4 rounds now.
I mostly agree, but while shot may be harsh Cotto and Margarito are damn close. There in the same state that Shane Mosley is right now. Marquez wasn't looking as bad as these two at any point.
I think more appropriate verbage would be that both men have mileage. However, it is possible we will find out someone is shot on Saturday night. Or that someone may become shot as a result of Saturday night. However Imo, it is too soon to call either fighter shot based exclusively on their most recent performances. They do definitely have mileage though, and this fight is only going to add on to that mileage. They are NOT the freshest cars on the lot!
Yup, and I was also predicting for that fight. It's just two elite fighters who know eachother very well. I see this fight in a similar light. Like in Pac/Jmm 3, I think it will be very obvious in the first 4 rounds whether or not public perception was correct or not. For this fight if anyone is shot, how much impact the potential absence of wraps is, and whether or not this is a new ball game or if they're picking up where they left off.
I too used to throw around the word shot too liberally when I first started watching, but it really is a word that should be applied carefully. It's easy to mislead yourself with the word shot.
Completely agree.
I understand people being concerned with Tony's eye, but writing him off as "shot" is just as stupid as writing Cotto off as being "shot", IMO.
Cotto broke Paulie Malignaggi's orbital bone in their fight : Yet Paulie bounded back from it just fine.
Remember how everybody thought Ray Leonard's detached retina was going to keep him retired for good? Then he came back and put on one of the greatest comeback performances of all time against Marvin Hagler.
People need to stop jumping to such ridiculous conclusions everytime a fighter gets their ass beat. Newsflash : Everybody not named "Mayweather" is capable of catching an ass beating from their equal (or superior) on any given night.
Heh.
I remember the days when I would refer to fighters who had taken a few beatings, or looked less than stellar in recent fights as "shot", too. Difference is, I'm a bit more mature as a fan now, and I don't think any of you guys should be so quick to label Cotto or Margarito as "shot", just because they both got whipped on by Pacquiao.
Bear in mind : Just a few weeks ago Juan Manuel Marquez was looked upon as a dead man walking against Pacquiao in their 3rd clash, and look what happened there.
I mostly agree, but while shot may be harsh Cotto and Margarito are damn close. There in the same state that Shane Mosley is right now. Marquez wasn't looking as bad as these two at any point.
Heh.
I remember the days when I would refer to fighters who had taken a few beatings, or looked less than stellar in recent fights as "shot", too. Difference is, I'm a bit more mature as a fan now, and I don't think any of you guys should be so quick to label Cotto or Margarito as "shot", just because they both got whipped on by Pacquiao.
Bear in mind : Just a few weeks ago Juan Manuel Marquez was looked upon as a dead man walking against Pacquiao in their 3rd clash, and look what happened there.
Yup, and I was also predicting for that fight. It's just two elite fighters who know eachother very well. I see this fight in a similar light. Like in Pac/Jmm 3, I think it will be very obvious in the first 4 rounds whether or not public perception was correct or not. For this fight if anyone is shot, how much impact the potential absence of wraps is, and whether or not this is a new ball game or if they're picking up where they left off.
I too used to throw around the word shot too liberally when I first started watching, but it really is a word that should be applied carefully. It's easy to mislead yourself with the word shot.