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Cotto's Case for P4P#1 Status
After Saturday nights fight with Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto has proven to be one of the most fearless, most enduring and most talented boxers in the world. His detractors may say his technique is lacking in certain departments but his impressive resume would indicate otherwise. Furthermore, after beating another fighter nobody was willing to face in Clottey, Miguel Cotto has a strong case to make for being the top fighter in the sport.
Consider this list. Since 2003 Cotto has undoubtedly faced the toughest opposition in the sport on a consistently bloody basis.
Upon careful examination of this long line of difficult opposition anyone who criticizes Cotto is either a pure hater or just an ignorant boxing noob.
2003
-Crushed an undefeated Carlos Maussa who had upset Vivian Harris and fought Ricky Hatton in England for the title.
2004
-Crushed a good fighter in Victoriano Sosa.
-Boxed circles around a tough rugged Lovemore Ndou.
-Avenged an amateur loss against undefeated, hard punching Brazilian Kelson Pinto.
-Crushed the always dangerous Randal Bailey.
2005
-Came back to stop the tough ChopChop Corley after being badly rocked.
-Avenged another loss to the extremely tough Mohamed Abdullaev, who at the time was considered an elite prospect.
-Came back to stop the ultra dangerous Ricardo Torres, who would eventually become champion himself down the line.
2006
-Battered a 36-1 Gianluca Branco.
-Battered an undefeated, slick and very game version of Paulie Malignnaggi.
-Moved up to welterweight and obliterated Carlos Quintana who upset Joel Julio and later Paul Williams.
2007
-Toyed with and knocked out a very good fighter in Oktay Urkal.
-Fought and impressively crushed the very best version of Zab Judah I've ever seen, despite a wicked cut inside his mouth.
-Convincingly decisioned future hall of famer Shane Mosley. A known cheater.
2008
-Absolutely humiliated Alfonso Gomez in a stay busy fight. Gomez is clearly the weakest opposition he's faced in many years, but after the previous years, Miguel deserved a gimme.
-Lost his only fight against the most feared welterweight on the planet in Antonio Margarito. When nobody else would make that fight, Miguel stepped up and took it and for the first 6 rounds looked on the way to victory.
2009
-Destroyed Michael Jennings in a tuneup.
-Decisioned another Margarito like fighter in Clottey who was widely avoided by anyone near 147. Cotto took the fight and won it despite a badly cut eyebrow that he sustained in the third round.
There are now rumors of a match with Pacquiao in the fall of 09'. Catchweight Manny and his team are already making unreasonable demands that Cotto drain himself to make the fight.
Cotto is a proven superstar who can sell out MSG against most fighters and should not capitulate to Pacquiao and Roach's opportunistic ploys. If Pacquiao wants that fight Cotto is absolutely entitled to fight it at his natural weight. Otherwise they should stay at 140 and give Nate Campbell the fight he deserves.
Miguel Cotto does not owe Pacquiao any concessions.
The only other two fighters that have a resume close to Cotto's are Juan Manuel Marquez and the pre-Arum version of Pacquiao. The current version seems content in fighting paper champions, weight drained has beens and overrated hype jobs. Pacquiao is quickly turning into a de****ably greedy businessman much like Floyd Mayweather was. Cotto on the other hand remains humble while taking on all the top challenges without asking for weight concessions to give himself an advantage.
Many Packtards claim that Cotto is ripe for the taking and that based on his performance against Clottey catchweight Manny will destroy him. I wonder if they remember how vulnerable Pacquiao looked against Morales when he was cut and how he shriveled up when Marquez cut him in the second half of their rematch. Much like Cotto, Pacquiao was visibly bothered by the blood and fought backing up looking especially shaky against Marquez.
Packtards also seem to discount the fact that while Pacquiao was fighting an overrated, one dimensional British "attraction", Cotto fought one of the toughest and most avoided men in all of boxing. Joshua Clottey is so tough and rugged that Kermit Cintron who didn't mind fighting Margarito twice, avoided and opted to move out of the division to avoid the Ghanaian Grandmaster.
The difference between Cotto and Clottey was that Cotto was looking for ways to win the fight while Clottey was looking for ways to give it away. His negligible efforts in rounds 11 and 12 are the reason he lost the fight and his right to complain about being robbed. Had he simply let his hands go and put extra pressure on Miguel there was a good chance he would've won the fight. But he stayed true to his tendencies and finished weak.
I can guarantee you that Pacquiao would not see the final bell against Clottey. Not only that but Pacquiao wouldn't have the guts to challenge Clottey at 147 to begin with.
Miguel Cotto has to be commended for his year in and year out string of extremely tough opposition. In an era of the over hyped, greedy, low risk high reward HBO fighters, Miguel Cotto is an anomaly. He is the quintessential throwback. He has graced us with excellent fights, a humble demeanor and a stoic countenance that conjures up visions of a Roman Gladiator.
After defeating Clottey he has proved himself to be quite possibly the best fighter of our generation and has cemented his legacy as boxings version of the "Hardcore Champion".
For those unfamiliar with that term it stems from a fictional title belt created in the WWF's attitude era. The hardcore champion was a guy who fought in ladder matches, folding table matches, boiler room matches, cage matches and any other insane stunt the WWF could conceive.
The matches were often bloody with the participants engaging in highly risky stunts much to the delight of the crowd.
Miguel Cotto does the exact same thing and wins consistently doing it. The Boriqua bomber must be respected for his accomplishments which are as of this moment the most impressive in the sport. He has a right to take as much time off as he pleases, take some soft touches for big money and even retire if he wants to.
In the eyes of this writer he doesn't need to prove anything to anybody anymore. The man is a winner.
Its time the dismissive writers and ignorant fans give this first ballot hall of famer his due.
And p.s its swell being back on BS!!!
Consider this list. Since 2003 Cotto has undoubtedly faced the toughest opposition in the sport on a consistently bloody basis.
Upon careful examination of this long line of difficult opposition anyone who criticizes Cotto is either a pure hater or just an ignorant boxing noob.
2003
-Crushed an undefeated Carlos Maussa who had upset Vivian Harris and fought Ricky Hatton in England for the title.
2004
-Crushed a good fighter in Victoriano Sosa.
-Boxed circles around a tough rugged Lovemore Ndou.
-Avenged an amateur loss against undefeated, hard punching Brazilian Kelson Pinto.
-Crushed the always dangerous Randal Bailey.
2005
-Came back to stop the tough ChopChop Corley after being badly rocked.
-Avenged another loss to the extremely tough Mohamed Abdullaev, who at the time was considered an elite prospect.
-Came back to stop the ultra dangerous Ricardo Torres, who would eventually become champion himself down the line.
2006
-Battered a 36-1 Gianluca Branco.
-Battered an undefeated, slick and very game version of Paulie Malignnaggi.
-Moved up to welterweight and obliterated Carlos Quintana who upset Joel Julio and later Paul Williams.
2007
-Toyed with and knocked out a very good fighter in Oktay Urkal.
-Fought and impressively crushed the very best version of Zab Judah I've ever seen, despite a wicked cut inside his mouth.
-Convincingly decisioned future hall of famer Shane Mosley. A known cheater.
2008
-Absolutely humiliated Alfonso Gomez in a stay busy fight. Gomez is clearly the weakest opposition he's faced in many years, but after the previous years, Miguel deserved a gimme.
-Lost his only fight against the most feared welterweight on the planet in Antonio Margarito. When nobody else would make that fight, Miguel stepped up and took it and for the first 6 rounds looked on the way to victory.
2009
-Destroyed Michael Jennings in a tuneup.
-Decisioned another Margarito like fighter in Clottey who was widely avoided by anyone near 147. Cotto took the fight and won it despite a badly cut eyebrow that he sustained in the third round.
There are now rumors of a match with Pacquiao in the fall of 09'. Catchweight Manny and his team are already making unreasonable demands that Cotto drain himself to make the fight.
Cotto is a proven superstar who can sell out MSG against most fighters and should not capitulate to Pacquiao and Roach's opportunistic ploys. If Pacquiao wants that fight Cotto is absolutely entitled to fight it at his natural weight. Otherwise they should stay at 140 and give Nate Campbell the fight he deserves.
Miguel Cotto does not owe Pacquiao any concessions.
The only other two fighters that have a resume close to Cotto's are Juan Manuel Marquez and the pre-Arum version of Pacquiao. The current version seems content in fighting paper champions, weight drained has beens and overrated hype jobs. Pacquiao is quickly turning into a de****ably greedy businessman much like Floyd Mayweather was. Cotto on the other hand remains humble while taking on all the top challenges without asking for weight concessions to give himself an advantage.
Many Packtards claim that Cotto is ripe for the taking and that based on his performance against Clottey catchweight Manny will destroy him. I wonder if they remember how vulnerable Pacquiao looked against Morales when he was cut and how he shriveled up when Marquez cut him in the second half of their rematch. Much like Cotto, Pacquiao was visibly bothered by the blood and fought backing up looking especially shaky against Marquez.
Packtards also seem to discount the fact that while Pacquiao was fighting an overrated, one dimensional British "attraction", Cotto fought one of the toughest and most avoided men in all of boxing. Joshua Clottey is so tough and rugged that Kermit Cintron who didn't mind fighting Margarito twice, avoided and opted to move out of the division to avoid the Ghanaian Grandmaster.
The difference between Cotto and Clottey was that Cotto was looking for ways to win the fight while Clottey was looking for ways to give it away. His negligible efforts in rounds 11 and 12 are the reason he lost the fight and his right to complain about being robbed. Had he simply let his hands go and put extra pressure on Miguel there was a good chance he would've won the fight. But he stayed true to his tendencies and finished weak.
I can guarantee you that Pacquiao would not see the final bell against Clottey. Not only that but Pacquiao wouldn't have the guts to challenge Clottey at 147 to begin with.
Miguel Cotto has to be commended for his year in and year out string of extremely tough opposition. In an era of the over hyped, greedy, low risk high reward HBO fighters, Miguel Cotto is an anomaly. He is the quintessential throwback. He has graced us with excellent fights, a humble demeanor and a stoic countenance that conjures up visions of a Roman Gladiator.
After defeating Clottey he has proved himself to be quite possibly the best fighter of our generation and has cemented his legacy as boxings version of the "Hardcore Champion".
For those unfamiliar with that term it stems from a fictional title belt created in the WWF's attitude era. The hardcore champion was a guy who fought in ladder matches, folding table matches, boiler room matches, cage matches and any other insane stunt the WWF could conceive.
The matches were often bloody with the participants engaging in highly risky stunts much to the delight of the crowd.
Miguel Cotto does the exact same thing and wins consistently doing it. The Boriqua bomber must be respected for his accomplishments which are as of this moment the most impressive in the sport. He has a right to take as much time off as he pleases, take some soft touches for big money and even retire if he wants to.
In the eyes of this writer he doesn't need to prove anything to anybody anymore. The man is a winner.
Its time the dismissive writers and ignorant fans give this first ballot hall of famer his due.
And p.s its swell being back on BS!!!
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