Clarification: Cotto The Boxer

[abadger]

I think this is incorrect, especially when considering the opponent. Hatton is a smothering type of pressure fighter. He'd make his way in with head movement and good footwork, leaping in with a left (or any punch for that matter) to the head/body, following up with rough housing, short body shots inside and chopping head shots. This went over fairly well against Floyd, until Floyd adjusted to it. After Hatton started to slow down in that fight his tactics had an adverse effect. He started smothering himself and his lack of an arsenal really showed up. This is exactly why Floyd caught him with that perfect hook and knocked him silly. Ricky was as predictable as the word gets, leaping in with a desperate shot.

Cotto's footwork when pressuring his opponent is excellent. Calling him a plodder is well off base. Cotto may not have the foot speed of Hatton, but he also likes to fight from a different distance than Ricky. Cotto has very deliberate footwork which virtually always puts him into a position to punch and control space. He cuts that ring off as well as anyone today. This is why his most undervalued trait is his ability to control space.

In addition to this, Cotto rarely smothers himself and throws a variety of punches to the head and body. The Quintana fight is the best recent example of this I can think of. The distance, the punches, the angles...all calculated and very effective.

Most of what you say here is correct. I agree that once Hatton tires he does smother himself and his plan weakens. I am a fan of his so I always think of him as he is at his best, and at it, I still believe he is a better pressure fighter than Cotto. If you look at your analysis of Cotto's game which is accurate, you will see that in some ways you are describing is a pressure fighter who applies his pressure in quite a methodical, boxing way, rather tha being 'in your face'. I agree Cotto is good at this, but I think it is tailor made for Floyd, as we saw with De La Hoya. It doesn't make Cotto a bad fighter.

What? You could have shortened your entire post to, "Cotto's skill will count for nothing against Floyd and he will lose badly." Save yourself some time.

Ha! Maybe! What I think I should have said is that a lot of talk of how Cotto will beat Floyd is centering around Cotto's boxing skill, in which department he is hopelessly outgunned by Mayweather. He would be better advised to jump all over Mayweather from the start than get engaged in any kind of boxing match. I prefer to try and explain why I think the things I do, I don't think its wasting time.

The funny thing here is that Cotto fights no particular way against a given opponent. Save maybe one or two fights, Cotto changes his approach in-fight and adapts to what his opponent is doing. This is something Floyd is very well known for as well (and rightfully so).

Saying, "stylistically Cotto is a better fight for Floyd", is totally wrong in my opinion considering Cotto is a guy who adapts throughout fights. Also considering he is significantly stronger and more well-balanced than is Hatton. When you couple these ideas with the fact that Cotto fights well behind his jab (which Ricky somewhat lacks) and can cause damage even with blocked/glancing shots, I think he presents a tougher match for Floyd.

I do agree that Cotto has demonstrated an improvement in his skills and a willingness to adapt recently, but I don't agree that he beats his opponents in radically different ways. Whatever the 'dressing' of Cotto's game in a given fight he ultimately derives his advantage from decent, methodical pressure, backed by sound technicals and decent speed. His formula of good fundamentals and an aggressive strategy, with a degree of adaptation, again relying on his decent fundamentals, means he is too much for most opponents, even in the absence of a single standout, worldbeating attribute. I just don't think it will be enough against Floyd, he just doesn't have that extra something that will give Floyd trouble. As for whether he is more made for Floyd than Hatton was, or whether he will look better, let me repeat: he won't ge knocked out, so he'll look better that way, but nor will he press Floyd into having to up his game. We WILL see the trademark Mayweather potshot and decison fight, so in that sense he is more suited to Floyd than Hatton was. It doesn't make him worse than Ricky though.

[oldgringo]

Most of what you say here is correct. I agree that once Hatton tires he does smother himself and his plan weakens. I am a fan of his so I always think of him as he is at his best, and at it, I still believe he is a better pressure fighter than Cotto. If you look at your analysis of Cotto's game which is accurate, you will see that in some ways you are describing is a pressure fighter who applies his pressure in quite a methodical, boxing way, rather tha being 'in your face'. I agree Cotto is good at this, but I think it is tailor made for Floyd, as we saw with De La Hoya. It doesn't make Cotto a bad fighter.



Ha! Maybe! What I think I should have said is that a lot of talk of how Cotto will beat Floyd is centering around Cotto's boxing skill, in which department he is hopelessly outgunned by Mayweather. He would be better advised to jump all over Mayweather from the start than get engaged in any kind of boxing match. I prefer to try and explain why I think the things I do, I don't think its wasting time.



I do agree that Cotto has demonstrated an improvement in his skills and a willingness to adapt recently, but I don't agree that he beats his opponents in radically different ways. Whatever the 'dressing' of Cotto's game in a given fight he ultimately derives his advantage from decent, methodical pressure, backed by sound technicals and decent speed. His formula of good fundamentals and an aggressive strategy, with a degree of adaptation, again relying on his decent fundamentals, means he is too much for most opponents, even in the absence of a single standout, worldbeating attribute. I just don't think it will be enough against Floyd, he just doesn't have that extra something that will give Floyd trouble. As for whether he is more made for Floyd than Hatton was, or whether he will look better, let me repeat: he won't ge knocked out, so he'll look better that way, but nor will he press Floyd into having to up his game. We WILL see the trademark Mayweather potshot and decison fight, so in that sense he is more suited to Floyd than Hatton was. It doesn't make him worse than Ricky though.

Good post, but I must respond later.

[Addison]

LOL, this is funny ****. I might have to change it though.