Harder fight for Floyd at 154: Present day Cotto or '07 De La Hoya.

[MurkaMan]

Easy Hoya,Hoya was more skilled at the time May fought him at 154lb..Not to mention that size advantage he had that Cotto won't have..

Oscar was washed up with no power, and he wasnt even training...Cotto is hitting HARD at 54' and he's just getting to this weight comfort in the past what yr or so?...Cotto is feeling fresh, coming off alot of learning expiriences...and he is a GREAT Boxer...Oscar was easy to hit, with the exception of his gloves being there to block punches...Cotto is allot slicker, and Floyd hasnt fought a boxer since what zab?....This is going to be a GREAT fight at 54' and I've been a little shaky about Floyd's ability to hit a moving target lately....Cotto can slip and dip and he got some good combos so Im excited as hell...screw canelo that would be like Floyd vs Ortiz all over again...and Im already getting bored with seeing Floyd beat big brawlers...now we know he has what it takes to beat their asses, I wanna see how he does againt cotto who is a boxer/puncher with GREAT skills

[MurkaMan]

I think present day Cotto will be a tougher challenge

Hoya by that time was just a part-time fighter and so far past it. He had moments in the fight, but not much. Mayweather was just 29 years of age, and even more faster, agile and mobile.

These days, Mayweather is now the part-time fighter, 35 years old, less fast, agile and mobile. At the least, while Cotto is past it, he's shown to still have good movement, still has power, has the better jab, and timing than DLH and most importantly, more motivation.

I think that DLH version was more interested in building his stable for GB Promos than actually getting a win.

excellent points...also, Floyd has no power at 54'...now he is bigger and stronger than he used to be, so the question is, is Floyd a soft puncher at that weight?...Or is Floyd on a different lvl today all around, and he's big and strongenough to really tap somebodies chin...Im anxious

[The MiZ]

De la hoya. He came into the fight trying to beat Floyd with volume punching. Although he was missing, he did enough to sway one of the judges.

yes, nice point. i think De la hoya was the harder fight. It was a welterweight vs a jr middleweight

[JmH Reborn]

That's interesting considering Cotto has not beaten any real top fighters since he lost to Pacquiao. One of his opponents was Mayorga who Delahoya beat years earlier right before the Mayweather fight. And he was far more impressive than Cotto doing it.

He fought Mayorga a year prior to Mayweather, and Mayorga and DLH are of equal size. Mayorga towered over Cotto and Cotto had just gotten off a layoff because of a shoulder surgery, so that is a wash in my opinion.

Also, he fought Foreman, coming off a good win against Santos, moving up in weight. Many in the media and in these boards thought he was going to handle Cotto. I realize that once the prediction of the many don't follow through that its because the fighter was a bum, but doesn't erase the fact that it was a solid and respectable win for Cotto.

Margarito, while not top anymore was still a solid showing. These boards again were pretty split that Margarito was going to son him and make him take a knee. Once that happened, the win got devalued amongst these boards. It was a clinic all the way around and still a good win.

In each of those fights, he brought something different and I think now he's grown into a 154 pounder and the three points still remain the same. Cotto has a better jab, better timing and more motivation than DLH that Mayweather fought. And we can argue that the left hook is better too, since DLH didn't throw it with any authority by that point.

[bMak]

Present day Cotto is a harder fight at 154 and his style presents a bigger challenge to Floyd than Oscar. De La Hoya was so past it all you need to look is his very next fight against Forbes.

Yeah, one whole year later and at 150. Oscar fought well against Floyd, the HBO hype machine blew up the success of his jab and the severity of his gassing out.

He's the tougher fight. Different styles, but Oscar was bigger, stronger, faster, more durable, and mentally tougher than Cotto. He also has advantages in jab, left-hook, and reach.

[4Corners]

Cotto all the way. Yes, Oscar presented a bigger challenge in size, but Oscar was so past it by 2007. And anyone watching May-Oscar in 07' knows that fight was not a SD. I had that fight 117-111/117-112, Floyd by a comfortable UD. Even when he was on the ropes a lot, Oscar didn't land s**t and just threw wild flurries, while Floyd actually landed while he was on the ropes. That was crappy judging in a high profile fight at it's finest.

Cotto is past his prime-still good. Cotto is still a top fighter, and while Floyd fighting Oscar at 154 lbs was a risk because of the weight, it was more of a huge payday and a fight that turned him into a PPV star. There weren't many huge fighters at 154, so Osca rmade sense, especially because people bought in after he KO'd Mayorga in his comeback.

Mayweather-Cotto at 154 is a B+ fight, and it's important for Floyd to get Cotto on his resume while he's still good, and it doesn't hurt that he has to do it at a high weight for him. Mayweather-De La Hoya at 154 was a B- fight at the most. Oscar was like how Ali was in 76' against Norton or in 77' against Shvares, on the verge of done. And than in 2008, Oscar was done, as he showed against Forbes and Pacquiao. By the way, Oscar-Manny was like a modern day version of Ali-Holmes, sad day for sure, only Oscar is not even close to as good as Ali of course.

I'd say Cotto, but I still think Floyd will pick him apart. Ortiz has a fair amount of head movement, which helped him in not getting tagged by Floyd the first couple rounds all that much, as Floyd only landed 24 punches those 2 rounds. But, the last 2, Floyd found his timing and picked Victor apart pretty good. So, I am willing to bet that Cott, a good fighter but not a ton of head movement or D, is going to get sliced up.

His best bet is to use the weight and muscle Floyd, because if Floyd starts walking Cotto down, it's going to be a long night for Miguel. But, I don't think Floyd punches hard enough to stop Cotto, unless Cotto get's cut and his corner throws in the towel in the late rounds.

[Cardinal Buck]

I have a lot of respect for the DLH who fought PBF. To me, it was his last time getting it together. It was the same guy who fought Vargas. He had a good game plan too, Floyd just broke it down in the second half of the fight.

[Barry Halls]

Oscar. This win always gets **** on but it's actually quite good in my opinion. Oscars priorities was not 100% on fighting, but he was still pretty damn good.

[-Kev-]

DLH and whoever says otherwise is ****** as hell or just a bias PR fighter supporter. DLH became the JMW WBC champ by kncoking out Mayorga in 6 rounds and looking really impressive doing it.

Fight wise, DLH will have given Floyd a way tougher fight than Cotto. I thought the DLH vs Mayweather fight was pretty competitive and I don't see Cotto duplicating that.

[_original_]

Its hard to answer that since the Cotto fight hasnt happened yet and for all we know it might be ultra competitive. But all i can say is, i cant see this Cotto beating that version of Oscar.