Does the lack of talk around this mean everyone has already resigned to the fact that Cotto has no chance?
Or maybe it’s the bitter reminder that the fight everyone wants to see will never happen?
I don’t know, but let’s talk about this anyway and pretend cotto brings something to the table that gives Floyd trouble and actually makes for an interesting match up.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
Does the lack of talk around this mean everyone has already resigned to the fact that Cotto has no chance?
Or maybe it’s the bitter reminder that the fight everyone wants to see will never happen?
I don’t know, but let’s talk about this anyway and pretend cotto brings something to the table that gives Floyd trouble and actually makes for an interesting match up.
Oh, completely forgot the Face-Off had happened. Thanks for this.
In an odd way, I’m more excited about this fight than 99% of people out there. Perhaps because I have a soft spot for Cotto, and really really want him to trouble Mayweather.
What do you think? Competitive for a little bit, and then Mayweather figures it all out and walks it towards the end? Or does Cotto push him for the whole fight?
I honestly think it’s Gatti - Mayweather all over again. Fight will be stopped in the later rounds because cotto can’t see or has a nasty cut.
I’m watching this purely to see what might be mayweather’s peak performance. 20+ years of experience combined with the last legs of his physical prime.
That’s what I’m hoping to see anyway. Not that mayweather has ever given anything but dominating performances, but hopefully he will commit to the fight more than previous endeavors.
With Mayweather, I feel it is at a point where each and every fight we’ll see him do something new,surprising, refined. As you know with boxing, there’s usually that one fight which either finishes a figher, or shows that a figher is finished. We probably won’t see one of those with Mayweather, but a part of me would like to see him have an extermely tough fight. A fight where he loses many rounds, has to dig deep etc.
How do you think this fight would have panned out at Cotto’s peak?
Also, I don’t usually talk about Mayweather/Pacquiao because those conversations usually descend into nuthuggery, at the expense of the real situation, which is the fact that we are talking about two extremely good boxers. But as is the norm with the internet, you can’t not state your prediction for THAT fight …
I have Mayweather beating Pacquiao relatively comfortably, with one or two hairy moments. What about you?
It’s funny that you put this up today Davo, cause I just watched it this morning and was amazed and stunned at how courteous Floyd acted throughout the whole thing. It was like watching a different man. It’s got to be some sort of ploy haha.
But I think this fight goes as most expect it, unless Mayweather gets old overnight. Cotto has good power but not really one-punch KO power, and it’d doubtful that even with his much improved footwork and boxing skills he’ll be able to really corner and catch Floyd.
Plus, Cotto tends to fight in pretty straight lines, so he should be easy pickins for a counterpuncher like him. I see him getting hit a lot en route to a fairly one-sided UD in favor of May.
Now, the interesting part could come if Floyd does one of two things -
Gets old
Decides that BECAUSE he is aging, he wants to go out in a more ferocious fashion, a la what we’ve been seeing from Bernard Hopkins.
This is the interesting alternative. Floyd could feasibly come out and decide that beating Cotto in a truly convincing and brutal fashion could make any supposed fight with Pacquaio even MORE alluring to the general public.
He might come out and say, “Pac knocked you down twice and TKO’d you, I’m going to come out and try to do it faster and harder to show’em what’s happenin.”
This is what I’d really like to see - Mayweather come forward and engage more in the way he used to at lightweight, throwing lots of punches and really going for the kayo.
Buttttt… being as this fight is at 154 - WHICH FLOYD SHOULD GET SHITLOADS OF CREDIT FOR - he’ll probably not do that, because his power doesn’t come up with him all that well.
Yeah I thought that was weird too. But thinking about it, it occurred to me that Cotto is one of the very few fighters Floyd has never had a bad word to say about, even going back months before this fight was an option. So I don’t know what that is. Maybe Floyd is thinking about retirement again and wants to leave the sport with a more likeable persona.
I don’t think floyd gets old - yet. He’s 31, it sounds about right for him to hit his peak, and if Roger Mayweather isn’t just blowing hot smoke, then floyd is looking his sharpest ever. But I do think he considers retirement for good after this match. If his jail sentence is still to come (is it?) then I think the pacman fight never happens, 3 months isn’t a long time, but still…
Regarding floyd’s power, I’ve often wondered that if his hands weren’t so brittle, would he have more KOs? It would seem there was a discernible change in floyd’s style right at the time he started having notable trouble with his hands.
Makes me think that the cocky Mayweather thing is his persona, rather than the real guy. His persona, if that theory’s correct, has made him a lot of money (in addition to his boxing ability). He’s probably at the point now that he doesn’t need the persona so much. He’s secure in his legacy, his ability, etc.
That, and the fact that Cotto comes across as a fairly respectful guy himself, means I’m not too surprised.
You’re right, he isn’t old yet, and probably has a lot of fights in him. Given the fact that he has taken almost no punishment throughout his career, longevity is something he can bank on moreso than other fighters.
How do you think a fight with Pacquiao would go if it happened tomorrow?
[quote]Magicpunch wrote:
Makes me think that the cocky Mayweather thing is his persona, rather than the real guy. His persona, if that theory’s correct, has made him a lot of money (in addition to his boxing ability). He’s probably at the point now that he doesn’t need the persona so much. He’s secure in his legacy, his ability, etc.
That, and the fact that Cotto comes across as a fairly respectful guy himself, means I’m not too surprised.
You’re right, he isn’t old yet, and probably has a lot of fights in him. Given the fact that he has taken almost no punishment throughout his career, longevity is something he can bank on moreso than other fighters.
How do you think a fight with Pacquiao would go if it happened tomorrow?[/quote]
With his past history, especially the legal problems with abuse and all sorts of other crazy ish, I doubt cockiness is just his persona. The guy is an amazing fighter and promoter but when I lived in Vegas every 6 months there was some mention of him beating somebody or doing some other nonsense.
I don’t understand why anyone would pay to see this. I hope Cotto makes a nice payday because that’s the only win possible outside of a fix.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
Yeah I thought that was weird too. But thinking about it, it occurred to me that Cotto is one of the very few fighters Floyd has never had a bad word to say about, even going back months before this fight was an option. So I don’t know what that is. Maybe Floyd is thinking about retirement again and wants to leave the sport with a more likeable persona.
[/quote]
He’s never really gone after Cotto, that’s true. But this was too much. I also don’t believe that the “Money” persona is who he really is, but he’s certainly a bit more brash than the average person (as most fighters are.)
So I really don’t know.
Not true pal. Floyd is 35 right now, and this age is the exact one where you start seeing fighters start taking clear downturns in their physical skills.
Floyd, because he takes such good care of himself, may end up being more like Bernard Hopkins than Roy Jones as he ages, but he’s still going to find himself in a few more brawls than he’s accustomed to as his reflexes slowly start to erode.
It makes for more exciting fights, no doubt, because he will HAVE to fight more as opposed to potshotting and slipping, which is a style that will give him problems as he slows down.
His father has said much the same thing in recent days, I was looking for the interview but couldn’t find it, so here’s a similar article about his statements:
[quote]
Regarding floyd’s power, I’ve often wondered that if his hands weren’t so brittle, would he have more KOs? It would seem there was a discernible change in floyd’s style right at the time he started having notable trouble with his hands.[/quote]
I haven’t heard much about his hands being brittle in the last few years, really since the Ricky Hatton fight. The one thing I will say is that his style changed as he went up in weight, and he became more of the aforementioned potshotting, counterpunching, defensive minded fighter that he is now instead of the high-volume, boxer-puncher that he was at lightweight and below.
Part of this, I believe, is that as he faced harder punchers, he began to think more in terms of winning on points instead of knocking guys out. I think he’s still got the physical power to knock a guy out, I just think that it takes more punches at heavier weights, which will leave him open to be countered himself, so he doesn’t do it as much.
He knocked out Hatton, and Ortiz, at welterweight, so I have to believe he’s still got that power.
Even if Floyd loses some of his super-human reflexes, he still has tremendous fundamentals to fall back on. That alone puts him more in the Hopkins camp as opposed to Jones. I think a slower Mayweather winds up being “only” as amazing as Juan Marquez.
I don’t expect to see a dramatic drop off in his skills even as he declines. He has the chin and the in-ring IQ to make adjustments. So if something stops working, he is the kind of fighter who can do something else. Honestly, I think he will age much, much better than Pac.
What makes Floyd one of the greatest is that he is a combination of physical gifts, trained skill, intelligence, and work ethic. I don’t see him leaning on his gifts as much as many other fighters have.
Regards,
Robert A
here you go
Id like to say - Money- hasn’t been at this weight in 5 yrs
and that Cotto might have to much confidence
but it probably wont matter
Hell of a fight. Really. Floyd definitely has aged, he’s not as fast, and 154 is a bad weight for him, but he won. Stayed in the pocket, banged toe to toe, and won.
Champ.
And Aussie Davo had asked earlier, when was Mayweather’s peak? The Juan Manuel Marquez fight and the Shane Mosley fight.
Shit man this fight alone will cement in many peoples mind that Manny definitely has a legit shot at dethroning mayweather.
Even I do now.
Much props to Cotto, he looked greatly improved, but I do have to question just how much was improvement on his part, and how much was Mayweather slowing down/having a bad night…
But really, Manny looked like shit in his last fight too.
And styles make fights.
So while this makes me think that fight would be more competitive, I still don’t think Manny wins the fight.
^^^agreed. slick counter punchers have Manny’s number, I have said it before, Mayweather is a bigger, younger, stronger and faster Marquez, Manny loses this fight. Unless, Mayweather gets old in the ring all the sudden, which you know as well as I do Irish, happens, especially in the lighter weight divisions, where speed and reflexes are more important.
I enjoyed the fight, though it was not good enough to justify the pay per view money and making that criminal convict thug Mayweather any richer…
the only punch that seems to be able to land on Mayweather is a hard straight jab, not sure why more fighters/trainers do not take advantage of this, it is obvious to even casual fight fans like myself.
[quote]heavythrower wrote:
^^^agreed. slick counter punchers have Manny’s number, I have said it before, Mayweather is a bigger, younger, stronger and faster Marquez, Manny loses this fight. Unless, Mayweather gets old in the ring all the sudden, which you know as well as I do Irish, happens, especially in the lighter weight divisions, where speed and reflexes are more important.
[/quote]
In my opinion, that’s what happened last night.
He should have beat Cotto’s ass. He didn’t because he’s very clearly slower. I can’t figure out if it’s the weight or the age or a combination of both.
both.