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Miguel Cotto made a number of mistakes (IMHO). As I was watching the fight, I was observing these.
1) Where was the bodywork? Miguel went almost exclusively upstairs. While he was snapping Tony's head, he failed to balance his attack by employing jabs to the stomach to disrupt Tony, and left hooks to the body to soften TM up.
2) Too much movement. FMJ is often called a "runner". I have watched every FMJ fight since he was a prospect. I have NEVER seen him run as much as Miguel did. While some (SOME!) of that movement was warranted, Migs wasted GOBS of energy with the 10K that he ran in the ring. Where was the clinching? Clinching eats up time, and gives you a breather. Why didn't he ever tie Tony up and walk him back? If you look at fights like FMJ/hatton, or Oscar/Vargas, they tied their man up, or used smart breaks to take some of the steam off. You can't RUN for 12 rounds. Running backwards and changing directions uses more energy than the guy who is just walking forward. Imagine if Tony had even the slightest inkling on how to cut off a ring.
3) Quitto kept it on the perimeter. Who has done well against Tony? Clottey? Yes. Williams? Surely. Where were those fights fought? Largely in the center of the ring. Up close. Who has done really poorly against TM? Golden. Cintron. and now Quito. Where did they all get knocked out? against the ropes. You can't stay at arms length vs a tall man. Sugar Ray Leonard found that out vs Hearns, and that is why he came inside and became the ****er. Quitto's mistake is that he was ending up on the powerful part of Tony's punches, instead of stepping inside and smothering that power. He allowed Margie to have full leverage. Never tied him up with elbows, forearms, holding, etc.
4) One pace. Think about the fight. You almost can't distinguish one round from the next. The fight was going by so fast for two reasons: a) it was a very good fight. But b) because it was the same **** happening over and over. Do you remember when Floyd had ricky hurt at the end of round 8? What did he do in round 9? Move in for the kill? No. He jabbed Ricky silly. Changed the pace. Kept the guy off balance. Boxing is about adjustments. Miguel just kept circling and countering, and Tony kept getting closer and closer. Against Shane, Miguel made the late-round adjustment to backpedal and box. Against Tony, he tried that tactic for the WHOLE FIGHT. This sounds strange to say, but the fight I was reminded of mostly was Taylor-Chavez.
5) "Don't try this at home". There are guys who can sit on the ropes and defend and who feel very comfortable there. They can stay on the ropes and avoid leather all night. Those guys have names like Whitaker and Mayweather. Miguel, you are a terrific fighter. But that isn't your game. You are not Pea. And you are not Floyd. When you went to the ropes, you basically sat there and countered....but you ate leather.
6)Don't read your own press. Everybody was saying that the fight turned into the fight they expected. That was good for Tony, and bad for Miguel. Tony is largely a one-trick pony. Miguelhas the more comprehensive skills package. I believe that Quitto pretty much bought in to all the experts opinions. I'm not saying that he relied on that. But he certainly felt that his superior boxing (that earned the early 3:1 odds) was enough to win.
That is the Dios viewpoint. I may become smarter after breakfast. Later.
1) Where was the bodywork? Miguel went almost exclusively upstairs. While he was snapping Tony's head, he failed to balance his attack by employing jabs to the stomach to disrupt Tony, and left hooks to the body to soften TM up.
2) Too much movement. FMJ is often called a "runner". I have watched every FMJ fight since he was a prospect. I have NEVER seen him run as much as Miguel did. While some (SOME!) of that movement was warranted, Migs wasted GOBS of energy with the 10K that he ran in the ring. Where was the clinching? Clinching eats up time, and gives you a breather. Why didn't he ever tie Tony up and walk him back? If you look at fights like FMJ/hatton, or Oscar/Vargas, they tied their man up, or used smart breaks to take some of the steam off. You can't RUN for 12 rounds. Running backwards and changing directions uses more energy than the guy who is just walking forward. Imagine if Tony had even the slightest inkling on how to cut off a ring.
3) Quitto kept it on the perimeter. Who has done well against Tony? Clottey? Yes. Williams? Surely. Where were those fights fought? Largely in the center of the ring. Up close. Who has done really poorly against TM? Golden. Cintron. and now Quito. Where did they all get knocked out? against the ropes. You can't stay at arms length vs a tall man. Sugar Ray Leonard found that out vs Hearns, and that is why he came inside and became the ****er. Quitto's mistake is that he was ending up on the powerful part of Tony's punches, instead of stepping inside and smothering that power. He allowed Margie to have full leverage. Never tied him up with elbows, forearms, holding, etc.
4) One pace. Think about the fight. You almost can't distinguish one round from the next. The fight was going by so fast for two reasons: a) it was a very good fight. But b) because it was the same **** happening over and over. Do you remember when Floyd had ricky hurt at the end of round 8? What did he do in round 9? Move in for the kill? No. He jabbed Ricky silly. Changed the pace. Kept the guy off balance. Boxing is about adjustments. Miguel just kept circling and countering, and Tony kept getting closer and closer. Against Shane, Miguel made the late-round adjustment to backpedal and box. Against Tony, he tried that tactic for the WHOLE FIGHT. This sounds strange to say, but the fight I was reminded of mostly was Taylor-Chavez.
5) "Don't try this at home". There are guys who can sit on the ropes and defend and who feel very comfortable there. They can stay on the ropes and avoid leather all night. Those guys have names like Whitaker and Mayweather. Miguel, you are a terrific fighter. But that isn't your game. You are not Pea. And you are not Floyd. When you went to the ropes, you basically sat there and countered....but you ate leather.
6)Don't read your own press. Everybody was saying that the fight turned into the fight they expected. That was good for Tony, and bad for Miguel. Tony is largely a one-trick pony. Miguelhas the more comprehensive skills package. I believe that Quitto pretty much bought in to all the experts opinions. I'm not saying that he relied on that. But he certainly felt that his superior boxing (that earned the early 3:1 odds) was enough to win.
That is the Dios viewpoint. I may become smarter after breakfast. Later.
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