Cotto’s anger will make it easier for Mayorga to win on Saturday

By Boxing News - 03/11/2011 - Comments

Image: Cotto's anger will make it easier for Mayorga to win on SaturdayBy Dan Ambrose: Photo credit Chris Farina/Top Rank – WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto has been like a punching bag for Ricardo Mayorga to pummel around during their press conferences together to promote their fight on Saturday at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cotto, not a good talker, has been way out of his element against the witty trash-talking Mayorga. Instead of coming up with some good comeback remarks, Cotto has sat and stewed. In the final press conference, Cotto even refused the traditional face off with Mayorga.

This is unheard of because it’s something that all fighters are expected to do, whether they’re afraid or not. Cotto didn’t want any part of having to stand and look at Mayorga up close. Some boxing fans say it’s because Cotto is so angry at Mayorga, while others think Cotto is psyched out and deathly afraid of him. I tend to think it’s more of the latter, but if Cotto is angry with Mayorga, it could end up hurting him badly making him more likely to try and trade with the powerful Mayorga. At only 5’7″, Cotto doesn’t have the size to just go out and try to overpower the 5’10” Mayorga.

Cotto is too small to run over Mayorga like he’s done against some of the mediocre opposition he’s faced while fighting as a welterweight. Cotto’s wins have come against smaller fighters like Zab Judah, older ones like Shane Mosley and limited ones like Michael Jennings and Joshua Clottey. If Cotto is so angry with Mayorga that he’s going to try and punch his lights out, Cotto could end up getting knocked out and beaten up on Saturday. He’s not rugged enough to go right at Mayorga, so I hope he’s not going to be fighting stupidly. This isn’t one of his over-matched opponents. Mayorga can actually fight and has the power to stop Cotto.



Comments are closed.