Cotto, the new Jermaine Taylor...

[Deep Blue 1997]

Arum is not stupid to put Cotto in the ring against Martinez after he saw what Martinez did to Kelly.

Arum and Chavez's JR. camp really protect the kid and no way they put him in the ring against Cotto, unless they want Cotto to expose the kid as a C-level fighter, who lives off his daddy's name.

man i guess i already knew the answer. lol
but it just pisses me off when arum mentions Chavez Jr. as if he is a bigger PPV attraction than Sergio.

[Beater_of_ass]

I think he still has some fight left in him. During the fight when he got hit he simply didn't cover up after, he threw punches back. Granted it didn't happen much and was against Foreman, but there is still a fighter in Cotto. He shouldn't step up to any immediate competition I agree, but him working with Steward really helped. I can't help but imagine if these guys were on BAD and looking for an oppurtunity to look like a contender Cotto would be very high up on radar. He's up there with Bradley in the sense that after 1 or 2 good fights he can step in with the elites.

What we saw of Cotto may not have been a fighter who was shot, but a fighter who simply trained himself. It was after the Marg fight that a decline of Cotto skills took place, more so than his heart. I'm sure he isn't there mentally 100% still, however, he seems more like he's needed some sort of guidence. During the Clottey fight he seemed to just "box" because 100 punches didn't work. It seemed like all Cotto was relying on was his power. When that didn't work he just ran, and again it may be mental but his corner during both the Clottey and Pacman fights after the 6th and after the knockdown in the Pacman fight his corner was silent. Its as if they had just pulled a Cotto in the Marg fight right with him. Instead of giving him direction they simply said we can recover. Ok great, but how.

They could have said just use your jab and don't muscle him around. Just keep mid range and jab. Instead nothing, obviously his mind is thinking **** even my corner doesn't know what to do I got no shot. Who knows, it may have lead to Cotto having a solid enough round to gain some confidence back, it really can't get worse. And its not just in the mind, his boxing skills nearly disappeared completely. Footwork and balance completely went out the window, as did his combination punching. He still jabbed occasionally, but my point is that Cotto has gotten exactly what he needed and thats guidance and leadership. 1 more "tune-up" fight should get enough experience for Stewart and Cotto to get Cotto a shot at someone like Williams, Martinez, Floyd or Pac.