Cotto-Mosley: Shane Ready For Miguel

By Boxing News - 09/07/2007 - Comments

mosley357.jpgFormer Lightweight and welterweight champion Shane Mosley (44-4, 37 KOs) is reportedly looking forward to his November 10th bout with WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (30-0, 25 KOs) at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Mosley, who turns 36 on Friday, September 7th, knows what it’s like to hold a welterweight, having previously held the WBC title among his other titles won at both lightweight and junior middleweight. Mosely is un-fazed by the fact that he’s the underdog going into the bout, even though he’s got the more extensive boxing resume against much better opposition that Cotto, 26, has faced thus far in his career.

Mosley, a fighter made famous for twice beating the great oscar de la Hoya and a one-time pound-for-pound top fighter in boxing, is known for his speed and strength. He fights exceptionally well in exchanges with opponents, and often comes out on top in most of them. Mosley knows when to move to the outside, especially when facing tough opposition like Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright, both of whom beat Mosley twice.

In each case, Mosley was the much smaller fighter and clearly out-sized by both of them. While holding the WBC/WBC light middleweight title, Mosley made the mistake of fighting Wright rather than fighting a 3rd fight with De la Hoya, saying at the time that he was more interested in facing the best rather than in making money. In hind site, it appears like a terrible decision, however, Mosley doesn’t regret fighting Wright, because that’s the kind of person that he is, someone that sticks to his principals.

Cotto, for his part, is a pressure fighter and uses his ring smarts to make up for what he doesn’t possess in terms of size or raw power. His focus on body attacks often leaves him open for a lot of punishment, and his chin is somewhat shaky. He’s been hurt in a number of fights, such as his bout with DeMarcus Corley, Ricardo Torres and most recently against Zab Judah. However, each time he’s been hurt, he finds away of recovering, sometimes by holding and other times by landing low blows. He’s taken a lot of heat for the low blows, causing many boxing fans to claim that he’s a dirty fighter. However, it works for him and has saved him on at least two occasions when he was hurt in a bout.