By Jim Dower: WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs) is confident about his chances for success in his title fight against the tough and dangerous Joshua Clottey (35-2, 20 KOs) two weeks from now on June 13th at the Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York. Cotto, 28, says “It does not matter what Joshua brings, I will be ready.”
Let’s hope that Cotto is ready, because Clottey brings the kind of speed and power that Cotto has had problems with in the past. Cotto was knocked out in the 11th round by Antonio Margarito in July 2008, and there’s still an uncertainty about whether Cotto is fully recovered from the vicious beating that he suffered at the hands of Margarito in that fight.
Cotto has fought only once since then, beating Britain’s Michael Jennings by a 5th round stoppage in February 2009. Cotto was barely hit in that fight and was able to get through it without as much as a scratch.
That’s obviously a good thing, but in facing a fighter as talented and as seasoned as the 32-year-old Clottey, Cotto will not be able to get off so easily without taking a certain amount of punishment.
If Cotto is lucky, he may be able to wear Clottey down and stop him. Clottey had already had problems with his stamina in the past three years. However, given that Clottey has never been stopped in his 14-year pro career, it would seem doubtful that Cotto will be able to depend on being able to knock him out.
Cotto has had problems of his own with stamina issues, starting two years ago in his 11th round stoppage win over Oktay Urkal in 2007. Cotto looked good early on in the first half of the bout but then Cotto faded quickly and had problems with Urkal until the fight was stopped.
Cotto also tired out in his fight with Shane Mosley in November 2007, getting worn down by Mosley and having to run for the last three rounds in the 10th through 12th as a fresher, stronger Mosley took the fight to him.
Cotto says that he’s trained hard and that he’s ready for a tough bout with Clottey. Let’s hope so, because this may turn out to be grueling bout for Cotto. Many of the boxing experts are predicting that Cotto will win the fight. But with his loss to Margarito and the uncertainty about Cotto’s chin, this fight could very well be up in the air with either fighter having a good chance of winning the fight.
I think Clottey will be very tough for about nine to ten rounds, but after that I see him tiring out and losing his strength. The same will probably hold true for Cotto as well. If Clottey can put a lot of pressure on Cotto for at least nine to ten rounds, it may be enough to wear Cotto out and stop him with a flurry.
Cotto really didn’t get hit all that much in his right with Margarito until the 10th round when he took a little punishment and got hurt. By then, Cotto was exhausted from having spent the previous nine rounds running from Margarito.
Cotto likely won’t do any running against Clottey on June 13th, so hopefully he doesn’t wear out as badly as he did against Margarito.
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