Miguel Anguel Cotto-Joshua Clottey June 13 at Madison Square Garden

good point, I noticed that too. Cotto is a terrifc body puncher but he seems to have forget it recently.

 

this seems to be the case. soberanes dropped margarito with a well placed body shot, many moons ago.

 

Is Arum throwing Cotto to the wolves?

I wonder if during Cotto's recent verbal attacks of Arum for sticking up so strongly for Margarito if Arum hasn't decided to cut the cord with Cotto and feed him to the wolves. Is this the real reason he made the Clottey fight, with no bum building doubleheader for both guys before their eventual matchup like usual?

Arum has a huge ego and I'm pretty sure that he took Cotto's little temper tantrum badly. He decided then and there that he would teach his son Cotto a lesson and he figured a Clottey fight would be a good way to do it. So now a close fight might actually go to Clottey and in fact Cotto could wind up being the one to get robbed.

 

lb4lb - what did Cotto say about Arum? I didn't hear about that.

 

Thinking of Clottey with his hands held up to his head for a second made me think that it was a good opportunity for Cotto, but then remembering observing how difficult it actually was for Margarito to hit Clottey's body cleanly with his long arms, I think this stylistically swings back in favor of Clottey, his guard is arched forwards and his body is angled back, you've got to get very close to hit his body and when you do, he uses subtle backwards movement and simultaneously creates room for himself to nail you with quick hooks,.. Unless Cotto can hurt Clottey with something early to rattle his opponent's fragile state of mind, I think Josh is going to win this, possibly even a late stoppage... and I disagree and somewhat resent posters for hating on his LEGAL defensive capabilities, what the fuck would you like him to do?.. run?.. turn his back?... clinch?.. :nono:

 

There were a lot of reports about him being angry with Arum/Top Rank prior the Jennings fight...especially since the press was asking Arum about Margarito during some of the Cotto/Jennings press events, and so Arum was sticking up for Margarito in Cotto's presence.

Cotto stated that he while he would sit down with Top Rank he would also look at other promoters when his contract ends at the end of this year.

As far as the wolves go, though, Arum also wanted to put Margarito-Clottey II on late last year.

 

Cotto is going to get stopped.

Bad move by Arum.

 

Yeah MWS, that's basically what it was. Cotto was pissed that Arum was sticking up not only for a guy who cheated but for a guy who possibly cheated against him. Basically Cotto seemed to feel betrayed by Arum and he said he would be looking at other options once his contract was up, although he never flat out said he wouldn't resign with Arum.

I think Arum knows what it's like when a guy leaves him. Remember he had pretty messy divorces with both Oscar and Mayweather and when it comes to Cotto I think Arum is trying to throw the first punch.

 

It's possible that's the reasoning for it, but Arum has always liked to keep fights "in house" whenever possible, and maybe he doesn't want to risk Cotto (and his belt) in a tough fight against an opponent from another promoter...at least when that opponent is someone like Berto, who isn't exactly bringing a lot of his own $$$ to the fight at this point.

Cotto still hasn't been tested since the Margarito fight, and I think this is a good litmus test for him...not just whether he wins or loses, but the way he fights and how willing he is to fight.

For this, I go back to the Mosley fight. That fight appeared to take a lot out of him, and he quite noticeably changed the way he fought during and after it.

Then there's the Margarito fight, another physically taxing fight, which obviously took it's own physical toll on him (handwraps or not, it was a beating).

So, there's questions in my mind about Cotto.

 

I have the same feelings. Cotto looked psychologicaly insecure in his last fight and very flat footed. This is a bad match for Cotto at this point of his career.

 

Clottey doesn't even try to KO guys. Clottey might win a decision but no way he KO's Miguel.

 

Like I mentioned before the best punch Cotto can use against Clotteys defense is the JAB! Hard jabs the the pit of Clotteys stomach and face. Cotto is going to need to shoot straight punches down the middle.

 

Well Clottey might not outright KO him, but I could see Miguel trying to go all out to preserve his career and get grinded out for a TKO.

But yeah, I think Cotto is going to lose this fight by stoppage or wide decision.

 

Cotto's best bet to combat Clottey's clam defense, which does manage to cover his liver, is his upper-cuts to the belly. That's what he used to absolutely slaughter Gomez.

But as some have pointed out, if Cotto is forced to resort strictly to a body attack, he WILL be countered with sharp left hooks.

See Castillo's counter left hook every time Corrales tried to go to Castillo's liver.

That's the problem with not mixing your punches between the head and body - you become a sitting duck for counter left-hooks. And if Cotto can't penetrate Clottely's defense to the head, and is forced to resort to upper-cuts to the belly, it is likely he will fall prey to the counter left hook, probably followed by a staight right hand.

And like Quartey, Clottey uses his jab well out of his clam defense. This will serve him well in keeping Cotto at a distance where he can't execute the upper-cut to the stomach.

Clottey's focus should be on picking his punches well and not loading up too much so he doesn't tire going down the stretch.

But as we have seen Cotto doesn't do well when he's forced to fight going backwards. Torres, N'dou, and Margarito all managed to make Cotto move back and these were the fighters who had the most success against Cotto.

What I don't understand is why Torres never campaigned for a rematch with Cotto. He made a lot of mistakes in that fight that cost him, but showed without a doubt that he had the style, hand-speed and punching power to give Cotto fits. I guess the fact that he remained at 140 while Cotto moved to 147 probably accounts for it.

I think Cotto is going to slowly find himself in the same position that Gatti did - he's too big for 140, but not big enough for 147.

For example, can't you imagine Cintron icing Cotto? Given his height and punching power?

And Clottey will no doubt appear the bigger man when they fight. Even Mosley seemed bigger. And obviously Margarito and Williams dwarf Cotto, although I doubt Williams will ever fight at 147 at again.

I hope that whether Cotto beats Clottey or not, he gets a rematch with Margarito, and not only that Margarito will be without his loaded gloves (which I'm sure will be the case), but that Margarito's camp doesn't allow Cotto to skin his gloves the way he does.

It will be interesting to see who wins between those two in a fair fight, and whether Cotto can manage to back Margarito up when Tony is without his loaded gloves.

For all we know, Margarito's punches won't even hurt Cotto if the fight is made fair.

But my guess is sooner or later, during the course of their fight, Clottey WILL succeed in making Cotto fight going backwards. And that's when he does his best work and gives himself the best chance to win.

It was his inability to move Margarito backwards that cost him that fight (I don't buy the hand injury claim by the way - I think Clottey just got tired of getting hit with bricks and closed up shop).

 

Thanks Mitch and lb4lb.

Personally I don't blame Cotto at all for being annoyed. I would be too in his position.

As for Arum, seeing as it's now conclusive that Marge did cheat, I would have thought Arum would have taken a different stance. Perhaps be diplomatic and evade the question, politician style, or even just say, he's a cheat, I don't condone cheating.

 

I can't imagine Cotto not winning somehow against Clottey, unless he's not the fighter I thought he was or isn't the guy he used to be, Clottey is tough, always competitive but nothing special, Cotto UD

 

Cotto needs to do just enough...don't try to make shit happen. If Clottey gets in his shell.. jab the body, wait for Clottey to respond and counter him. If Clottey is aggressive even better...a lot of opportunity for Cotto to land...

 

Agreed! The jab will be key here!

 

clottey's good, but nothing special. cotto should win on points.

 

Uhh... Hell fucking no. Are you fucking kidding me? What punching power? The guy is terrible, just terrible and has yet to prove to me he's a great puncher. Jeez, some myths just won't die. :doh:

 

Fightnews seems to imply that Emmanuel Clottey is in a coma. Does anyone has any info on that

 

Wouldn't be surprised, that was a nasty KO.

 

Uh? He iced Mathysse in 2 rounds. Cintron's power is not a myth. What's a myth is that he can't handle mentally being hit with legally wrapped goves.

He stopped Estrada and he stopped Feliciano. Neither of those guys are known for being stopped, even if they're not known for winning fights that count.

 

First of all who the fuck is Mathysse?

Secondly the fights against Estrada and Feliciano were give and take fights where both guys stood up to Cintron's incredible power til the end of the fight. Both of those fights were give and take slug fests and usually you'll get a KO in that kind of fight. It says something about Cintron that he did KO both but all it says IMO is he has good to decent and not great power. If his power was on the overrated level some think it is he'd be stopping guys a lot more often in the earlier rds than he has so far done.

3rdly, did you not see the Martinez fight? My god Cintron sucks, and the main reason he isn't Cotto's opponent is because HBO wouldn't green light his sorry ass because they knew it would be a mismatch. Also Martinez hurt and dropped Cintron, so it might not be too big of myth that he's not too durable.

You really think Cintron would KO Cotto? Based on what? Who has Cintron even beaten that is on Cotto's level?