Both were past their best when they were at 154....De La Hoya was the more skilled overall and had a bit more left at 154. So De La Hoya by Decision
Oscar is NOT stopping Cotto at 154. Not the version that fought Floyd imo. I could possibly see Oscar winning a decision here but I think the more likely outcome here is Cotto to beat him close but deserved, sorta like the Mosley fight.
I could see the fight presented here going either way. I think I would favour Cotto. The De La Hoya who was at his 154lb. best, the one who bested Vargas & Mosley (on my card), would be too active and too smart for Cotto, maybe stopping him.
I still think the Oscar who fought Floyd edges Cotto out, probably with a KD or two along the way. The Oscar who fought Castillejo or Vargas would likley either stop him in 9 or so win a rare uncontentious decision (since Cotto would fade almost as bad as him down the stretch).
May not be the same but it's not like he declined THAT MUCH...you know to the extent to which he would have knocked him out previously but lost to him after. The dude had recently destroyed mayorga! Many posters here have a habit of doing this and it's juvenile and annoying.
5, 6 years is a long time when you're inactive, in and out of training, balooning up and down in weight, etc. My picks are above, but X's pick is hardly crazy.
Five years to an inactive fighter is like decades out of the ring....Oscar fought what...4 times in 5 years and you want to pretend he was the same guy five years later? Bullshit. We know why you're saying this. With that said, either version beats Cotto which has more to do with Cotto's height and size. As faded as Oscar was, he still wasn't the technical dummy Margarito is.
You've said this repeatedly which is again...fucking retarded. A year passed between the Mayorga and Mayweather fights. if it were say four or five months prior, then yes. If he were fighting three or four times a year..."recent" is the word to use.
I see your point. But I'm not looking at it as simplistically as that. 1. Ali was a different TYPE of fighter in the 70s, not jus that he was older. His style had changed. It was so much age as it had been the inactivity...not inactivity per se...but it seemed to affect his heavyweight legs so that he couldn't move in the "middleweight way" that he used to be able to in th e60s. 2. De La Hoya still had the same style, and his handspeed and power were still enough..espcecially when combined with his height and size to beat Cotto. Unless SHOT..Oscar's style and abilities woul dbe too much for any version of Cotto.
'I'm not thinking about it simplistically......but it's all or nothing.' Oscar's reactions and ability to pull the trigger were on a progressive wane, so they're different fights. Whether you think the difference tips the balance into Cotto winning probably depends on how dominant you imagine the 01 version being. Personally I think both Oscar's beat Cotto. But the difference is still worth mentioning.
We are in agreement that both versions beat Cotto. That's teh bottomline. I rolled my eyes because I don't get how someone jumps from stopping Cotto to losing to him...before he's actually shot. I hadn't seen that much evidence in a decline in Oscar's abilities. Saying 5 years is simply not enough because 5 years after beating Echols Hopkins was still whupping ass for example.
exactly. who knows how many dildos and lines of perico entered the guys body between the mayorga and mayweather jr fights.
To me, there is significant difference between the 01-02 Oscar and the 07 Oscar. Big difference in speed and reflexes. Competitive fight for me. But I think Cotto at 154 is closer to his best than the De La Hoya who lost to Mayweather.
To be honest, Oscar was past his prime even in 2001-2002. His hand speed was still there but the legs were gone, and the reflexes had slowed down, thus making him more hittable. I do think that Oscar does beat Cotto, though. The 07 Oscar I thought was noticeably slower even on the trigger. And his punches lacked the snap I feel, and while Cotto's stamina was never great, Oscar's was never anything to write home about either.
http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=364414 I have no idea who Hagler is supposed to be though