Cotto is in his 3rd prime!

[Interloper]

We've seen fighters in the past enter a 2nd prime. Namely, George Foreman actually gained punching power and became world champion after beating Michael Moorer in his... what? Mid-50's?

Cotto has actually entered a 3rd prime. He was absolutely shot after the Margarito fight. Then, he moved up in weight and got his balance back with Emmanuel Steward to win a title at 154. We saw him steadily decline into an arm punching, small junior middleweight.

Enter Freddie Roach, and now he's moving up to 160 on the small frame of a 147 pounder, and he has actually gained hand speed. If you watch the replay of the fight from last night, his hands have never been that fast. He was throwing quicker shots than Martinez, which is almost unheard of. His footwork was brilliant, he was loading up on his shots and blasting Martinez with authority. Looked like he wasn't even close to being tired and was actually having fun.

It goes without question that he's a Hall of Famer at this point, but if he does somehow manage to get a fight with GGG down the road, and he somehow manages to beat him (I imagine it will be his farewell fight if it happens), he's a legitimate ATG fighter. Nobody can argue against that.

[PRPOWERPUNCHES]

We've seen fighters in the past enter a 2nd prime. Namely, George Foreman actually gained punching power and became world champion after beating Michael Moorer in his... what? Mid-50's?

Cotto has actually entered a 3rd prime. He was absolutely shot after the Margarito fight. Then, he moved up in weight and got his balance back with Emmanuel Steward to win a title at 154. We saw him steadily decline into an arm punching, small junior middleweight.

Enter Freddie Roach, and now he's moving up to 160 on the small frame of a 147 pounder, and he has actually gained hand speed. If you watch the replay of the fight from last night, his hands have never been that fast. He was throwing quicker shots than Martinez, which is almost unheard of. His footwork was brilliant, he was loading up on his shots and blasting Martinez with authority. Looked like he wasn't even close to being tired and was actually having fun.

It goes without question that he's a Hall of Famer at this point, but if he does somehow manage to get a fight with GGG down the road, and he somehow manages to beat him (I imagine it will be his farewell fight if it happens), he's a legitimate ATG fighter. Nobody can argue against that.

Good post BUT I think the difference in todays Cotto and yesterday's is Freddie Roach..

PRPP

[Curtiz]

3rd prime my ****ing ass


all it proves is that you don't know boxing in the first place and you're an idiot for thinking cotto was washed up on the basis of one fight

[cupocity303]

Cotto's prior workouts throughout the years always struck me as a bit of lazy. Seemed to laid back during mitt work and even jump rope and speed bag.

The fact that he probably now doesn't have to worry about weight at all and can just workout and eat and still be on weight is beneficial to him at this stage of life. Add to it the fact that Roach is famous for putting his fighters through more intense workouts/drills, Cotto has a new life in Boxing.

Now he can have AB's and still weight 160, whereas before he would have to shrink and be dehydrated just to see a little bit of 6-pack action showing through.

[Welter_Skelter]

Huge Cotto fan here..

The question is.. Was Cotto that good last night or was Martinez that bad?

The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

I am not going to proclaim Cotto P4P number one because of it.

Cotto is a world class fighter and a Champion. He always brings his A game (except maybe against Trout) and a few times his A game was not enough.
Future hall of famer who is rarely in a dull fight.
But he will never be "great" just pretty damn good. Which is impressive in itself.

[Curtiz]

Huge Cotto fan here..

The question is.. Was Cotto that good last night or was Martinez that bad?

The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.

I am not going to proclaim Cotto P4P number one because of it.

Cotto is a world class fighter and a Champion. He always brings his A game (except maybe against Trout) and a few times his A game was not enough.
Future hall of famer who is rarely in a dull fight.
But he will never be "great" just pretty damn good. Which is impressive in itself.

I have alot of respect for you, somewhere between both sides of the story is the truth!

[Interloper]

3rd prime my ****ing ass


all it proves is that you don't know boxing in the first place and you're an idiot for thinking cotto was washed up on the basis of one fight

Intelligent people don't use insults in a debate, so there's that.

Also, I didn't say he was shot because of one fight. Every performance after that fight at welterweight saw a decline in every asset he had prior. No killer instinct, no balance, no confidence, painfully slow hands. That's a shot fighter.

[Ivansmamma]

Cotto probably is better trained then before and he clearly has some fights left in him but martinez was in worse condition then expected. He had barely no defense without his footwork and could not adjust the distance.

[Curtiz]

Intelligent people don't use insults in a debate, so there's that.

Also, I didn't say he was shot because of one fight. Every performance after that fight at welterweight saw a decline in every asset he had prior. No killer instinct, no balance, no confidence, painfully slow hands. That's a shot fighter.

I can insult whoever I want, it wouldn't make my statement any less true.

If you're a shot fighter aka Martinez, he has no chance of EVER being relevant again because his mobility won't allow barring an act of god on his knee.

You don't just rediscover reflexes because you get a new trainer.

Never heard anything more idiotic in my life.

Killer instinct & confidence are unfortunately not indicators of a shot fighter.

Being shot means there is no way you can ever recover what you lost.

Punch resistance
Reflexes
Footspeed
Handspeed

Are good examples of this!

All it shows is that you lack a grasp of perception when it comes to boxing.

[Interloper]

I can insult whoever I want, it wouldn't make my statement any less true.

If you're a shot fighter aka Martinez, he has no chance of EVER being relevant again because his mobility won't allow barring an act of god on his knee.

You don't just rediscover reflexes because you get a new trainer.

Never heard anything more idiotic in my life.

Killer instinct & confidence are unfortunately not indicators of a shot fighter.

Being shot means there is no way you can ever recover what you lost.

Punch resistance
Reflexes
Footspeed
Handspeed

Are good examples of this!

All it shows is that you lack a grasp of perception when it comes to boxing.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, and assume you're being rude / curt here because you've been debating something similar to this in other threads.

Read my post again. I never said he rediscovered reflexes because of a new trainer. You're talking about a fighter being physically shot, which is only one aspect of being a shot fighter. You're thinking of Roy Jones "shot."

And you can absolutely gain hand speed because of a switch in a training regimen. Training for explosiveness, having confidence in your punches, lots of variables can affect this.

I've actually boxed before. Have you?