Meldrick would slap avalanche Cotto @ 140 Even fight @ WW Cotto is too big @ 154 Prime Jermain should khtfko Cotto @ MW
Taylor couldn't even stop Baranchyk. Josh honestly is starting to get overrated. Bordering on vastly overrated. Cotto was a different class of fighter. Full stop. Before 140 affected him, he handled Bailey and Abdullaev's bombs well, and both those guys were murderous punchers.
Josh imo is more an "elite for this era" type junior welterweight champion. It'd be a different story for Josh if he was around with a Tszyu, Cotto, Hatton, Bradley, at least imo. I see him going 0-4 against those guys.
Cotto never proved he was better at 140 than Taylor is, don't give me that full stop shit. Abdullaev landed what? Less than ten punches a round? The guy was never anything as a pro. Bailey was never anything special either. Josh is too much of a sharp shooter for the green, fragile 140 Cotto IMO
Is say the only fight were cotto showed fragility was the corley fight. And even then, he was uncharacteristically aggressive in that fight. Sure Torres hurt and floored him a few times, bit Torres was a huge puncher
You're acting as if Josh has beaten murderer's row himself. As if Cotto wouldn't be hugely favored over Prograis and Ramirez. It is a full stop. People far too often act like Cotto would be some easy out at 140 based on the Corley and Torres fights. At the end of the day, he stopped both guys. Whats your explanation for Josh getting rocked by Baranchyk and a washed up Postol? How bout Regis destroying his face? Taylor's defense is too poor to deal with Cotto's offense.
It's the stoppage prediction that I really take exception with. Josh has yet to record a stoppage in any of his big fights. Postol, Regis, and Ramirez have all gone the distance. And none of those three fights were one sided dominations either. He's only wiping out guys like Ryan Martin, O'Hara Davies, ect. Yet he's gonna stop fuckin Miguel Cotto? No. Just no.
In retrospect, Corley was arguably Judah's best win. On this forum, the majority of people were picking Corley to win that one. But Zab beat him pretty easily, and that win aged well.
Compared to the people Cotto beat at 140, Taylor has beaten a Murderer's Row. Prograis, Ramirez, Postal, Barranchyk, etc; are well above Abdullaev, Corley, Torres, Baily and Mallinaggi. Hit clean, maybe, but he I don't remember him being rocked by either of them. I remember him beating them both decisively. And getting his face destroyed? Yeah, it's a boxing match. He had a war with a top fighter, no shit his face didn't look great. Cotto's face always got marked up badly, too. Weird thing to focus on, really. Taylor's defence isn't great, but his counter punching is excellent, and Cotto over extended himself often and clearly wasn't as strong or durable as he was at higher weights. Alright, maybe Taylor wouldn't stop him but Cotto's definitely hitting the deck. No question about it.
You should have stopped after Postol. Baranchyk is a bum. Bailey, Torres, Corley, Abdullaev, all would have executed Baranchyk. Paulie would have picked Baranchyk apart. I think Bailey KOs Jose Ramirez too. So that leaves Regis as the best win between the two at 140, but Josh gutted that one out and was a bloody/swollen mess by the end. I think you're overrating a lot about Taylor, including his power. He's never been in with a fighter near Cotto's level. The Cotto who slaughtered Pinto and Bailey would put a beating on Josh.
Not only that, but we also saw what cotto could do at 147. Him obliterating Quintana in his first fight after moving up was highly impressive. Now, we can debate whether cotto was draining himself at 140, or that he was a different fighter at ww, but personally, i dont think he was. Even against Paulie he weighted well below the 140 limit. Honestly, I can't see cotto not rib roasting the long slender body of taylor
Torres and Baily, sure. They'd have KTFOd Barranchyk, but Corley and Abdullaev? Nah. These guys are NOTHING special. Corley was good but very flakey; he lost a LOT. Is Barranchyk is better than Jose Alfaro or the shitter Clottey. Short of a lucky counter-punch, Ramirez would smash the shit out of Baily. Just a far better fighter. Baily was a bum. And Postol would also beat everyone Cotto beat at 140. Prograis is the best win between the two by some distance. So what if his face was smashed up? Cotto was damaged far worse vs Torres than Taylor was vs Prograis. And serious question, how many rounds of war like that do you think Cotto would last before his eyes went black, his nose started bleeding, or his lips ballooned up? Furthermore, Cotto and Prograis are nothing alike in the slightest. I don't think Taylor hits that hard. I think he's a clean puncher with decent power. Upon reflection, you're right he probably wouldn't stop Cotto but he's awful for him stylistically and for all the talk of Taylor having a poor defence, so does Cotto. Cotto is NOT 'putting a beating' on Taylor. Not without taking one in the process. Win or lose. He just isn't good enough.
Do you think Taylor wouldn't also beat Quintana easily? I can see Cotto's body work winning it for him, but I think he opens himself up too much for counters trying to get there. He couldn't just walk through them all.
No I don't. While Taylor is good, I don't think he's at the level cotton was. Id be very surprised if Taylor beat Quintana as easily as cotto did
Josh has NEVER dominated a quality fighter. Not once. Why on Earth do you have him on this pedestal he doesn't belong on? He went close with an aged, severely inactive Postol. There's no evidence that he would "dominate" a good welterweight like Quintana.
On the closest scorecard, Taylor lost THREE rounds to Postol. He beat him by the same margin Crawford did. Sure, it was more competitive but it wasn't in any way close. Winning 10/11 rounds and dropping Postol is dominating. And Postol almost beat Ramirez years later. Quintana was also KOed in one round by Williams. That fight is far more indicative of the level between Paul and Quintana than Quintana winning is. I'd be far more surprised if that fight was competitive than if Taylor dominated. But I'll wait till I see what he's like if he moves up before I die on that hill.
I don’t see how Taylor wins this fight, honestly. He’s a skillful yet extremely hittable guy with mediocre power going in against a strong heavy handed guy with a great offense. Cotto would essentially force Taylor into a brawl and his power is going to be the telling story here. Cotto via late rounds TKO.
Even if Josh would have beaten Teo, I’d still say Cotto. The style isn’t good for Taylor. Cotto is too strong for his aggressive style to work on him. Miggy also punched harder than anyone he’s faced and Taylor wouldn’t like those power shots. He also wouldn’t be able to hurt Cotto enough to deter him. Bad bad bad match up for Josh.
