JoeR

I think he meant it won't make a big difference in the date, it's only a few days a part different. Yup; I meant that if Cotto fought Gomes it would be on April 26, but if he fought Margo it would be on May 3. So if you think he can fight 3 times this year if he fought Gomes, there is no reason not to think he couldnt fight 3 times this year by fighting Margo on May 3. (Of course; Margo is a much tougher opponent, and if the fight is a war I can see Cotto taking a long rest and fighting only 2 times)

Well, boxrec has Cotto vs Gomes up. Hope they are wrong again.

I will give him props for going straight to a Marg fight. That would mean he may only get 2 fights this year. Thats what I thought too, but the Gomes fight would be on April 26 and the Cotto/Margo fight would be May 3. Thats only a week apart, doesnt make that much difference on the schedule.

Its gonna be a repeat of Calzaghe vs Manfredo Jr. Cotto will dominate Gomez till the referee stops the bout somewhere in between rounds 4-6.

I was rooting for Pavlik. I saw the fight 8 rounds to 4 for Taylor. However, I had like 6 rounds that could have gone either way. I have no problem with the scorecards cause of that. After reading all posts, I am beggining to think I probably scored a lot of rounds the wrong way. Not worried about that, I probably just had a bad night judging. It happens, just like Lederman had a bad night scoring Quintana/Williams. I still trust in my abilities to score rounds.

This is a tough one to call. Hatton isnt at his best at 147. Collazo gave him a very tough fight. I think Quintana takes it, barely. Quintana doesnt have great stamina, and Hatton will probably win most of the last rounds. The question in my mind is if Quintana will be able to win enough early rounds to win the decision.

PBF already has my respect. He is the most talented fighter in boxing right now. But lets be rational about this, PBF hasnt beaten any of the top fighters at 140 and 147. He fought the best at 130 and 135 and beat them, but he is still missing that one fight that will make him "truly great". Dont get me wrong; just cause he hasnt fought the best at 147 and 140 doesnt mean he would lose to any of them. In fact I think he would beat them all. The two that would have a chance is Cotto and Williams. And Williams has a chance just cause of his size. Boxing fans want Cotto vs Mayweather because its the only fight in which PBF might lose. Castillo is the only fighter that has given PBF trouble, and Cotto is the fighter which resembles Castillo the most. A come forward fighter that goes to the body and knows how to cut off the ring. Even though I give the edge to Mayweather if they ever fight, Cotto has a very good chance to beat him, which makes this fight so compelling. PBf is so god damn good that everytime he steps in the ring you know he is gonna win, thats why people want this fight so much. Even if you think Mayweather is gonna beat Cotto, you cant deny that there is just a little doubt in your mind. What if Cotto lands a big left hook to the body?, what if Cotto traps him in the corner? What if? If PBF beats Cotto, its all props to him. No excuses, no debate, no nothing.

Actually Mayweather just fought and beat the best 140er. Fine, point for you. But when the best at 140 is Hatton, Malignaggi, Torres or Witter you aint saying much. But the Hatton win was indeed impressive; but like I said in my post, no one really tought Hatton had a chance. Cotto does.

I voted Mayweather, Cintron and Mosley. Of course, Margo,DLH and Williams CAN beat Cotto, but their chance is so slim that I dint vote for them. 1. Williams - I just dont think he has the power to keep Cotto off him. Williams does well against stationary targets(Margo) but Cotto; while he may be going forward, will have to much movement for him. Slapping punches wont do the trick against Cotto. 2. Margarito - he is just to slow and his punches are just to wide. He has a slim chance just because his chin is so good Cotto wont be able to knock him out, and in 12 rounds a lot of things can happen. Still, Cotto should be able to win an easy decision against him. 3. DLH - just to past his prime, to little stamina. If he slowed down against Mayweather, I doubt he can fight for 12 rounds against Cotto. I think he will probably do very well for maybe 4 rounds, and then he will fold. I think Cotto knocks him out. Next tier: Ones I voted that CAN beat Cotto. 4. Cintron - of all the WW fighters, he is the only one that has real one punch knockout power. Cotto squares up when he throws power combinations and he could get caught. Thats the only way Cintron beats him. Still, Its doubtful in my mind. 5. Mosley - like Margo; his chin is his best asset against Cotto, and anything can happen during 12 rounds. But unlike Margo, Mosley is fast/quick. Their first fight was real close. I gave the fight to Cotto 7 rounds to 5. i think Cotto would win the rematch again; but if Mosley fought Cotto in what was such a close fight, nobody can deny he CAN beat Cotto. 6. Mayweather - the only fighter in the division I would make the favorite against Cotto. Cotto has a real good chance to beat him, but I think he will fall short. PBF is just to quick and will give Cotto mad angles. Cotto will get countered and will probably lose by decision. NO, I dont think PBF can knock out Cotto, Cotto is no Hatton. PBF is smart, and he will not engage/exchange with Cotto. Cotto will lose a 7 rounds to 5 decision.

Her boyfriend is probably puerto rican hehe

I think Chavez will eventually lose before he gets the Cotto fight.

Cotto's win over Mosley is more credible to me. It's a huge win. The fact that Shane wasn't all there means nothing. If Cotto clears the table and takes all the chips at the end that's what it's all about. Miguel might have beaten Mosley with something else if Shane was coming back with more.. We'll never know. I know Miguel was ready and focused for seemingly anything. That was clear. Whats up Addison, its been a while. I dint read all of the pages in this thread, but what I understood was that there is a debate about who beat the better opponent. The easier way to answer this question is: if DLH and Mosley fight right now, who would win? I think Mosley has aged better than DLH and if they fought , Mosley would beat DLH again. So in that sense, I believe Cotto's win over Mosley was more impresive than PBF's win against DLH. Does that mean Cotto is a better fighter than Mayweather? Of course not. Does that mean that Cotto would beat PBF? Of course not. I am a huge Cotto fan, and my brother knows it. My brother only watches Trinidad and Cotto fights. He doesnt know much about boxing. But he watched Hatton/PBF with me; and after the fight, he looked at me straight in the eyes and said: " If Cotto ever fights that guy, he is gonna lose"

Sure; he was impressive, but could he be able to take those shots against a better fighter? I reserve my opinions till I see him fight tougher competition. Mares seems to have to many *****s in his armor to beat top level fighters; but then again, he may have fought that way tonight because he knew his opponent was overmatched.

Kind of a tough question. I knew Cotto could do what he did, just wasnt sure if he could be able to do it against Mosley. Actually; Mosley impressed me a little more than Cotto did, and here is why. From the 9th round on, Cotto was backing up and Mosley was pressuring him. I thought Cotto backed up cause he thought he was ahead. After watching the fight again; I realized that Cotto wasnt backing up cause he wanted, he backed up cause Mosley made him. That was what impressed me the most from the whole fight. Cotto was clearly winning the fight up till the 8th round, and you could see in Mosley's face that he was tired and fatigued, while Cotto looked fresher. Nevertheless, Mosley(like the warrior he is) gave everything he had and took the fight to Cotto. Cotto was saved because he can adapt and is not one-dimensional like a lot of people think he is. He can fight going backwards, and he can counter punch. Thats what gave him the 11th round. What impressed me most of Cotto and what I dint expect was that even though Mosley neutralized Cotto's body punches, Cotto was able to beat him anyway. Cotto used his jab very effectively; but more than that, he adapted to his opponents weaknesses. When he saw his body punches and his left hooks werent there, he capitalized on Mosley with his jab and with his right hand. He dint rely on his strenght's, he took what Mosley gave him. Cotto is a very smart fighter, thats what impressed me the most.

Cintron only has a punchers chance against any of the top welterweights. Williams will beat him when they fight.

I agree in theory...for the most part. Cotto wont pressure margarito; it would be a highly ignorant thing to do. Cotto has the option to brawl or box (he does both well enough); margarito (against a guy like cotto) can only brawl...because if decides to box cotto would decision him rather easily. What i see happening is both guys getting buzzed quite a few times during the fight...there will be some big hard punches being landed by both... i WOULDNT be surprised to see each man down once...(whether cotto boxes on his toes or not). I see the end coming down to a close decision in favor of cotto. I think margarito wins rounds early, busting up cotto to the chin as well (to test it); maybe even making him look bad early...but down the stretch cotto adapts and the boxing side of the fight starts to work for cotto...sitcking him with the jab...tagging him to the body; fighting well on his toes... its going to be a REAL close fight...and anyone can win really (each fighter has more than enough power to win a knockout of sorts even in the 12th and even if they lost majority of the rounds leading up to it)... so there will never be a point in the fight where you can say; he's beaten him convincingly here for 10 rounds...its basically over because one punch from either can change things... but as i said; cotto pulls it out late for a close decision. I agree with most what you said, but I think Cotto will win the early rounds not Margarito. I can see Cotto growing frustrated later in the fight because he will hit Margo with a lot of punches and Margarito will just keep coming. Anyway, I see Cotto winning by a close decision also.

Well, not every celebrity is the same. I myself would get pissed off if everytime I stepped out in public, I had to stop every five minutes to take a picture with every estupido that recognizes you. Cotto is not married, he is separated. Maybe it wasnt his wife, maybe it was some girl that liked the attention. Maybe he was in a bad mood, maybe he just wanted to leave with the girl to a motel and people kept stopping him for pictures. Have you ever wanted to leave a party, and your girl spent half an hour to say goodbye to everybody? I just dont like to call anyone an asshole if I havent even met him. I can see you are a Tito fan. Let me tell you a really sad story. A friend of mine went to a panaderia an Tito was there. He told me it was really sad, cause it looked like Tito was just sitting there all alone just waiting for people to come up to him. He was craving for attention; boxing is the only thing he had, and without it he is nothing. Thats probably why he came back from retirement. Thats sad.

Somebody take me through this. For real. I don't make threads like this but in this case we've reached an impasse. I have no idea how some of my friends here see Cotto winning. None at all sincerely. Take me through it in technical terms, because when threads got made referring to Cotto's ability to stand up to pressure, and Cotto's chin, there were non answers and tounge in cheek responses. Some Cotto supporters have already stepped forward and said they can't pick him. It's reality time. Whats up Addison. First of all, I want to tell you that I met Cotto a couple of weeks ago. He was promoting his Ecko shirts. Took a picture with him and he also signed a poster that I had. I told him "metele las manos a Margarito" and he answered, Of course. Cant believe you dont see how Cotto cant win. You remember in an old post where I said that Cotto has "something that makes him win". Cotto's intangibles make him great, cause on paper he doesnt look that good. In the Mosley/Cotto fight: Speed - Mosley Power - Cotto? Chin - Mosley Stamina - Mosley Experience - Mosley Ring Generalship - Cotto Reach/Height - Mosley Mosley had most of the advantages but Cotto still pulled it off. In Margo/Cotto fight it kind of looks the same: Speed - Cotto Power - Margo? Chin - Margo Stamina - Margo Experience - Margo Ring Generalship - Cotto? Reach/Height - Margo I think Mosley is better than Margo; and if they ever fight, I think Mosley beats him. Nevertheless, I think Margo is more dangerous to Cotto than Mosley was. To answer your question: In technical terms, how does Cotto Beats Margo? Easy to answer. Speed and Movement. Unlike Cintron; Cotto is not a stationary target, which means Margo will not be able to unload his punches as he did with Kermit. Margaritos punches are slower and wider than Cottos punches are. That means that Cotto will hit Margo more than Margo will hit Cotto, this will be reflected on the scorecards. If Cotto is able to not get suckered into a brawl, he will probably beat Margo. Judges like to score rounds for the fighter that puts pressure and goes forward, which Margo will do. I think in this fight Cotto will be the counter puncher and will be moving backwards. But Cotto is not like most counter punchers, which pot shots their opponents. Cotto counters with power, and he looks good doing it. He will win the rounds doing this. However; Cotto does like to brawl; and I am afraid that when he senses that he is better than Margo, he will try to go for the kill. Unlike Alfonso Gomez, this will not work with Margo. If anybody is going to get knocked out, it will be Cotto. Still, I think Cotto's speed, movement and combinations will carry the day. Any questions?

No questions, Joe. This is the best response in a thread with almost 240 posts. Excellent work as usual, Joe. This is a powerful answer and one that truly gives me pause and serious consideration. I wish we had more like you, J. http://firstfridaysdc.com/Web2/images/5%20stars.JPG You know whats funny, I know its a great answer and a good analysis. Still; I am always afraid that being a fan of Cotto, I analyze the fight as a best case scenario for my fighter. One thing that made me pause, was a post you made about how Top Rank could be setting up Cotto with this fight. I dint really think about it until you opened my eyes. Cotto has much more to lose. It really is a high risk/ low reward for Cotto. Margo doesnt really lose anything if he loses, but if he beats Cotto he will then claim he is the most feared fighter. If Cotto wins, Margo will be just another notch in Cotto's record. If Cotto loses, it will set him back 2 years. Then again, you have to give Cotto his props for taking this fight. All said and done, I cant wait till July 26. Will be a great night for boxing.

that what it,s going to boil down to ...him overduing it in camp and looking like a zombie and margarito looking like the incredible hulk... but even on cotto,s best day he still gets stopped by margy... any thoughts??? Yeah, but not any I should put down in writing.

You know me, Joe. You know my views regarding Cotto and how I can be critical - but I honestly believe that if he gets hurt or in trouble he will not go quietly. I could picture him rising from multiple knockdowns if he's knocked down. I could picture him coming back from being staggered multiple times. Not just because he's done it before, because I know this guy really well at this point and when he goes in the ring he puts his whole life in it. I've said a few times that I feel bad for Margarito in a way because I think that Cotto could potentially fight more vicious and hit harder than he ever has because he feels his back his against the wall. Somebody is going to get hurt. You never know in these situations what will happen of course.. I've also thought about the chance that this becomes a Duran/Hearns situation with Cotto as Duran. I think Cotto's instincts were to stay away from Margarito and he got forced into it - but we shall see. Wow, powerful words.

The things I feel Cotto has most in his favor potentially are his ring mileage and his advantage in footspeed. I think Undefeated made a good point about all the wars that Margarito has been in. Despite all the discussion of Cotto's chin and durability issues he has far fewer miles on him than Margarito. Even if Cotto gets hurt that doesn't nescessarily mean it will be the end of him. Theoritically he could sustain getting hurt multiple times based on what he's shown us in the past. That could make things very interesting depending on how he takes Margarito's bigger shots.. Yes, I have seen that in undefeated fighters. Thats why Cotto vs Torres was so intense. When you are undefeated, you aint giving up, no matter what happens. I can assure you; Cotto will not hear a 10 count, the referee will have to stop the fight. I just thought about this right now, Cotto has the best balance/footwork of any fighter right now. He is never off-balance. He throws a punch, his feet are set to throw another or to move side to side

You know me, Joe. You know my views regarding Cotto and how I can be critical - but I honestly believe that if he gets hurt or in trouble he will not go quietly. I could picture him rising from multiple knockdowns if he's knocked down. I could picture him coming back from being staggered multiple times. Not just because he's done it before, because I know this guy really well at this point and when he goes in the ring he puts his whole life in it. I've said a few times that I feel bad for Margarito in a way because I think that Cotto could potentially fight more vicious and hit harder than he ever has because he feels his back his against the wall. Somebody is going to get hurt. You never know in these situations what will happen of course.. I've also thought about the chance that this becomes a Duran/Hearns situation with Cotto as Duran. I think Cotto's instincts were to stay away from Margarito and he got forced into it - but we shall see. Actually, I think its the other way around. Cotto's strategy will be to stay away, but his instincts will take over and Margarito will "force him" to fight. This is the first Cotto fight that I am sure he will get hurt. Cotto will get hurt, makes me nervous.

Yes, a Margo uppercut will do it, or a swooping right hand that catches Cotto in the temple(like the Corley punch). Still, I think Cotto will avoid/withstand those punches.

Common guys, DLH its not the same fighter. I am sorry, but Cotto beats Oscar right now. I actually think Cotto would beat DLH without to much trouble.

Cotto by a clear but hard fought decision. A stoppage is not out of the question for him tho as some believe I am curious ROBO, never met a Cotto fan that wasnt from PR. How did you became a Cotto fan?

My bad, poll dint came up, please refer to other post.

The body punches sequence was the best part of the video, it was awesome.

I dont think Cotto will actually knock Gomez down with a punch, but I do believe the referee will end up stopping the fight at sometime. Gomez has to much heart to go down; and because of this, I think Gomez will take a lot of punishment.

What I know is that Cotto was nearly KDed by Demarcus Chop Chop Corley when they fought and made him look like an ordinary fighter. In my opinion, Cotto has been hurt three times in his career. Corley and Judah hurt Cotto because he dint see the punches coming. Torres is very flawed but has great punching power. Cotto squared up and exchanged with him and he almost got KTFO. Gomez doesnt punch with angles and he is not that fast. That leads me to believe that Cotto will see his punches coming and he will not be hurt. I believe Gomez and Cotto will have a lot of exchanges, but Gomez does not have the punching power that Torres have. I think this will be a great fight as long as it lasts; neither are going to back up, both will try to pressure the other. Cotto will get hit, but I just dont see Gomez having enough power to make Cotto cautious/tentative. Gomez says he has been in the ring with fighters at 154 and 160, so he has tasted punches from heavier guys. Thats true, but Cotto is in a whole different level from those guys Gomez fought. Cotto might not have the power to knock Gomez out, but thats not Cotto's style anyway. Cotto breaks down his opponents with accumulation of punches. Gomez might have taken punches from harder hitting boxers, but I assure you he has not tasted the constant punishment he will receive from Cotto. Getting hit non-stop with heavy hand is not the same as shaking off one huge punch. Prediction: referee stops the fight somewhere between the 6th and 8th round.