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What a fight card last night. Great great night of boxing.
Let me start off by saying, f**k you to all those that at first gave Cotto zero shot at winning and then going back and saying Martinez is just old, has no legs, etc. etc.
Was it Cotto's problem that Martinez signed the dotted line to fight him knowing he had knee problems? Um, no. Actually, Martinez could of been picking on Cotto since Cotto was coming in up weight and all, and despite his outing against Rodriguez, he lost his previous 2 and looked to be on the downward slope. Bottom line is both agreed and and trained their asses off.
Now to the fight itself. First round I thought Cotto did catch Martinez cold. The reason his legs were giving out were because he was getting hurt so bad, that's why. Martinez seriously under estimated Cotto's power based on him coming up in weight and the fact that Martinez has been fighting bigger guys before. Bigger guys yes, bigger punchers than probably the likes of Cotto? Not quite.
Once Martinez respected Cotto's power, it was back to Martinez being himself, except he couldn't be himself because Cotto wouldn't let him. Martinez was completely lost in there while Cotto cut him off every chance he got and Martinez was basically walking into all of Cotto's hooks.
We've never seen Martinez look so uncomfortable in there because most fighters never made it uncomfortable for him and it let Martinez take charge with his awkward style. Cotto was having none of that.
With that said, big props to Roach. He just revitalized Cotto's career and after all the wars he's been in and terrific fights he's given us, to see him have another chance is unbelievable. It's like watching Marco Antonio Barrera go from total slugger, puncher, into a boxer puncher and it created a second half of his career where it's almost hard to remember his first half being a wild fighter.
If any trainer can bring back an aggressive attacker fighter, it was Roach, and considering he studied Cotto so well for the Pacquiao fight, he knew Cotto's weaknesses and what he could fix to complete Cotto as a fighter. They make a wonderful team.
Now you got to give Cotto his respect because despite what you might believe even though the actual former champ himself never made 1 excuse, the fact is that Cotto went in there and did his job. He conducted himself professionally all the way and when nobody was giving him a chance(even I had my doubts but knew the power was 50/50 in my mind), Cotto went in there and put on a dazzling show of superiority. I don't think Martinez could of beat that kind of Cotto even 5-10 years younger. Cotto just had his number and that's because of Roach.
Let me start off by saying, f**k you to all those that at first gave Cotto zero shot at winning and then going back and saying Martinez is just old, has no legs, etc. etc.
Was it Cotto's problem that Martinez signed the dotted line to fight him knowing he had knee problems? Um, no. Actually, Martinez could of been picking on Cotto since Cotto was coming in up weight and all, and despite his outing against Rodriguez, he lost his previous 2 and looked to be on the downward slope. Bottom line is both agreed and and trained their asses off.
Now to the fight itself. First round I thought Cotto did catch Martinez cold. The reason his legs were giving out were because he was getting hurt so bad, that's why. Martinez seriously under estimated Cotto's power based on him coming up in weight and the fact that Martinez has been fighting bigger guys before. Bigger guys yes, bigger punchers than probably the likes of Cotto? Not quite.
Once Martinez respected Cotto's power, it was back to Martinez being himself, except he couldn't be himself because Cotto wouldn't let him. Martinez was completely lost in there while Cotto cut him off every chance he got and Martinez was basically walking into all of Cotto's hooks.
We've never seen Martinez look so uncomfortable in there because most fighters never made it uncomfortable for him and it let Martinez take charge with his awkward style. Cotto was having none of that.
With that said, big props to Roach. He just revitalized Cotto's career and after all the wars he's been in and terrific fights he's given us, to see him have another chance is unbelievable. It's like watching Marco Antonio Barrera go from total slugger, puncher, into a boxer puncher and it created a second half of his career where it's almost hard to remember his first half being a wild fighter.
If any trainer can bring back an aggressive attacker fighter, it was Roach, and considering he studied Cotto so well for the Pacquiao fight, he knew Cotto's weaknesses and what he could fix to complete Cotto as a fighter. They make a wonderful team.
Now you got to give Cotto his respect because despite what you might believe even though the actual former champ himself never made 1 excuse, the fact is that Cotto went in there and did his job. He conducted himself professionally all the way and when nobody was giving him a chance(even I had my doubts but knew the power was 50/50 in my mind), Cotto went in there and put on a dazzling show of superiority. I don't think Martinez could of beat that kind of Cotto even 5-10 years younger. Cotto just had his number and that's because of Roach.
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