Why is Cotto suddenly being written off?
February 16th, 2010
By by Liam Fitzgerald: Miguel Cotto is moving up in weight in order to fight WBA light middleweight champ Yuri Foreman in his next fight but many pundits are already questioning his decision. From reading websites and forums, a lot of people are making Foreman favourite. To be honest, this shocks me due to the Israeli’s lack of experience at championship level and mainly because Cotto is still an elite fighter.
In fact, Cotto showed the exact thing that he was being criticised for lacking in his only other defeat against Antonio Margarito. After quitting against the Mexican, Cotto’s heart was queried but despite taking a beating against Manny, he was determined to see through the 12 rounds. That much is clear from his reaction to the fight being stopped. Cotto is in a similar position to Ricky Hatton in my view. Now, he is looked at as being shot, having only lost to the best two fighters in the world even though he had beaten all the top contenders in his weight class. Exactly the same as Cotto at welterweight whose victories have came against great boxers in title clashes.
Cotto is still a top class fighter and showed that he can mix it up between brawling and boxing in his against Joshua Clottey. He suffered a horrendous cut in the fight but took the decision by showing some great outside boxing in the final 4 rounds that confused the Ghanaian and prevented him from worsening the damage around the eye. He was criticized heavily after this fight but I don’t see why. If it had been anyone else they would have been applauded but unfair concerns over his heart led people to believe that he was in some way afraid. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
For me, Cotto should be heavy favourite for this bout. Foreman is not in any way a heavy puncher who could cause damage to Cotto and I would expect Cotto to walk through his punches and pressurize the Israeli in a way he has never been tested before. Provided he win, then it is quite clear that the fight Cotto should pursue is against Margarito. That defeat will still hurt him and following the hand wraps controversy, there is a possibility that he wasn’t beaten legitimately. I think Cotto knows that rectifying that defeat will improve his legacy and the fight could easily be made at 154 lbs so I see the Foreman fight being a great warm up bout for him, as well as giving him the chance for a world title in a 3rd weight class.
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15 rounds how could you say cotto is scared. He didnt back down from manny,shane,margarito,clottey or zab and so on. I mean he just wants a warm up fight. Im sure cotto wanted to fight mayweather but we all know mayweather. So i dont understand how u can put him in the same conversation as mayweather when it comes to boxers who are scared.
How in the hell can Cotto redeem himself fighting foreman i cant beleive fans are actually supporting this fight im finally getting sick of cotto getting credit of being the best when theres real boxers like PWilliams & SMartinez for actually fighting and wanting to fight the best. If Cotto fights foreman win or loose real hardcore boxing fans like me will put him on the chicken sh#t list right between Mayweather & Pavlik. Sorry for cursing but its the truth.
yuri will never be the same after cotto obliterates him. foreman has never fought a blood thristy warrior like miguel. especially after that lost to pacquaio, cotto is hungry to taste victory again and he will. i would hate to be in yuri’s place come fight night. later fight fans. ;-]
Cotto need to fight Andre Berto for the Title not Yuri Forman. Yuri should figt Winky for the Title it only make cents.
Bob Arum the new Mr. Fizzy put this fight togather. Boxing is big business so put the right fights togather.
Another thing with Cotto is, people are quick to criticize but when you fight the hardest toughest guys almost consecutively like cotto did with mosley, margarito and clottey, there is bound to be some battle weariness. miguel cotto fights tough guys unlike some fighters. He DID lose to clottey fair and square but that is no disgrace because clottey is a top fighter so it can happen. Other than that i agree with the guy below who said..cotto has never genuinly been beaten (exept by clottey which is ironic) because margarito and pacquiao are arguably both cheats
miguel cotto is unbeaten the two losses he sufferd is by cheaters margarito=loaded glovs and manny pacman(no to 25 million dollar drugtest)=roids!!!!!!!!!
this fight is dangerous for Cotto because of size and hieght and the fact that Cotto will be moving up for the first time in a while. But I believe, even if he doesn’t win, he’ll give his fans a great fight as always.
Just to clarify a comment someone made earlier. Know what your talking about before you say who ducked who. While Floyd was at jr. welterweight one of the fights he was trying to get was with Cotto after the Gatti fight. That was when Cotto was steam rolling through everyone. It was TOP Rank who said hell no. And didn’t hear a peep out of Cotto. Funny how people have short memories.
Good call. Cotto is a top fighter, and good fighters usually come back from defeats with good performances.
I (much like the rest of you) saw Foreman win his title on the Pac/Cotto under card, and well he didn’t look all that impressive. He looked decent, but his opponent (all of near 40 years of him) looked gassed by about the 4th.
Cotto should have this one.
in my mind cotto is unbeaten because i think that maragarito used loaded gloves and manny is om roids so to beat a great fighter like miguel cotto you must cheat
The 145 catchweight did Cotto in. And, of course, the concrete-dipped wraps. Cotto hasn’t been beaten fair-n-square.
There’s no shame in taking a fall, It’s how you get back up that defines who you are. I’m a Cotto fan… nobody can deny he’s faced the best. I would like to see him rise up and get another title.
at least someones doing cotto justice. evrybody thinks clotteys a walk thru and that margarito took his heart. not really so, he just caught a bunch of tough fights in a row. I say cotto gets back on the map with this one. he also needs a rematch with margarito and if mosley loses a decision to money, him and cotto should do it again.
I have followed cottos career for a longtime and I agree he was never the same after the margarito loss, but if he is going to continue to fight I would love to see a victory for him. Not too sure about the logic in moving up in weight… personally I would love to see a catchweight fight between Cotto and Hatton…
New trainer unite with uncle,COTTO
Still one of my favourite fighters. The margarito fight ruined him. And he definatly lost the clottey i dont care what anyone says.
He beats foreman and anyone else who isnt a top fighter easy
hey Liam Fitzgerald: very nice article ,I feel the very same.
cotto will win this fight,SEENs most down play cotto as most of these same folks were depending on cotto to take down pac.now they turn their heads against cotto,calling him shot as not beliving manny just was a better fighter,I liks cotto he prove they wrong watch ,foreman will take the punishment for the set back.
Cotto will never win with Santiago in his corner, Get a new trainer Cotto.
Cotto is a warrior but he has stayed too long at the fair its no fun to see him beaten up, he will never recover from the Beating Margo gave him and Pac man He, cotto is tough now he has to show that he is smart and Go HOME
Cotto has a good chance of winning this fight, however, I doubt it will happen. Foreman has underestimated power, a decent chin and good lateral movement and it will be difficult for Cotto as it’s unlikely to have the power at 154 to do any real damage.
Besides, Cotto has not been the same since Margarito, even his fight against Jennings he did not have the same foot movement or subtle hand/head movements he shown at his peak, which was against SSM and the first 5 rounds against Margarito.
I agree with u 100%.Less then two years ago Cotto was belived to be unstoppleabole ,now that he has 2 loss one of them is diffiently a suspect loss cause of that punk cheater margarito he suddenly a decent fighter.That crazy he is still one of the top fighters.He is going to pressure this yori dude with body shotshots and break him down .Cotto wins this fight easily
Cotto hasnt been the same since margarito, no doubt about it. He beat jennings but struggled mightily against clottey and then got beaten pretty badly against pac.
I think if anyone is giving foreman an edge its because of his size difference. I honestly dont think either should be a heavy favorite, foreman is a relative unknown and noone is really sure what cotto has left in the tank.
ever since cotto fired his uncle things went down hill, imo he should make up with him.
Cotto is still a contender in my eye. And despite all these articles favoring foreman, I have cotto as a favorite in this fight. His only losses were to margarito which is now shrouded in controversey and paquiao. And after all this controversey between paquiao and mayweather. Now I’m not sure if pacquiao is as legit as I thought. Cotto, in my eyes, is still a top contender. And he’s accomplished his legitly.
Arum is using him as a stepping stone for Foreman, a sacrificial lamb if you will. Cotto is small for a light middleweight and Foreman will walk all over him.
its not write him off but he showed everything he has to offer yeah definetly scarred after margirito which is unfair , if he was involved in another fight like marg,clottey or pacman his gonna do real damage to himself i think
i’m not gonna write off cotto. as long as he stays away from premiere pressure fighters, he’s all good. i never seen cotto outboxed so he shouldn’t have a problem with foreman. i believe he can beat any junior middle except for williams, angulo and martinez. since he wants to retire after this year, he shouldn’t have a problem finishing on a good note in 2010.
cotto is still a good fighter!! after the defeat with margarito cotto did not stay down he got another title!! if he was shot how come jennings could not beat him and with clottey cotted knocked him down once and fought valiantly even with a bad cut on his eye!! I agree cotto is still a good fighter that mayweather ducked!!!
Cotto has changed he has heart but he needs the will to become the champion he needs to come back harder than ever beat yuri foreman and regain his status as an elite contender
Cotto was never the same after the Margarito beating.