(PHOTO CREDIT: Gene Blevins – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotion) By Dan Ambrose: Former two division world champion Antonio Tarver is giving WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto a chance to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. this Saturday night, but it’s not a good chance. Tarver thinks Cotto has to be physical with Mayweather and near perfect on defense to pull off the upset.
Additionally, Tarver sees Mayweather’s hand speed advantage being a huge obstacle for Cotto, one that the Puerto Rican star will have to find away around this liability or else he’ll get beaten.
Tarver said “Cotto’s gonna have to be perfect. Cotto’s gonna have to be physical, have his defense intact…When Floyd opens up, he’s going to have to punch with him. That’s how you negate speed, and that’s a big risk.”
Tarver feels that Cotto has to take that risk because it’s basically his only chance. If he lets Mayweather open up with his speedy combinations, Cotto will end up getting blasted out or picked apart by him. But by throwing at the same time as Mayweather, Cotto could land something big in between one of Mayweather’s shots. But on the flipside, Cotto could get hit with one of Mayweather’s shots while he’s trying to land something and end up getting taken out. The only plus that you can see here is that Mayweather isn’t a huge puncher and Cotto could get away with taking some of Mayweather’s shots for the short term.
However, Cotto can’t afford to get hit like this for a full 12 rounds without breaking down from cuts or swelling. Cuts will be Cotto’s biggest problem because he has a lot of scar tissue around his face, and he seems to cut easily when hit consistently.
Tarver is right about Cotto needing to take chances in this fight. He’s got to risk everything and do it from the beginning for him to pull off the upset. If he plays it safe, he’ll get whipped.
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