INTRIGUING Matchup... Mr. Cokes was a Good TACTICIAN, but he was Naturally SMALLER than Dela & Didn't have the Same Level of Punch Resistance...Having Said that, Dela's ONLY Weapon was his Left Hook...It's Hard for REED to Envision a 1 Handed Fighter Beating Mr. Cokes...A 12 Rounder Could Go Either Way; If Dela Caught Mr. Cokes w/the Left Hook, he'd HURT & Likely STOP him... But if the Bout Got to Round 13, Dela's Stamina would BETRAY him as Usual, & he'd LOSE a Close but CLEAR Decision... Dela was Greater OVERALL, but @ 147, it's 60-40 in Mr. Cokes' Favor in a 12 Rounder...80-20 in a 15 Rounder... REED:mj:
Cokes was an excellent counterpuncher, particularly with his right hand... I think that is good because he wouldn't be relying on a hook. Hoya had a terrific hook, fast and sharp and it was high-risk/high-reward to try and counter him with a hook of your own (Ike Quartey illustrated both the reward and the risk in their fight) ... Hoya also had a terrific jab and if you are a right hand counterpuncher, that's the one you are looking to work off of... I definitely think Curtis would get home plenty of eye-catching right hands on Hoya... where I don't like his chances is twofold: 1) Hoya's speed of both hand and foot was greater than Curtis' and that means catching him cleanly is harder and 2) Hoya was a pretty shrewd operator in the sense that he understood that sometimes just being busy can curry favor from people scoring the bout, something Ray Leonard was a master of... Uneventful round for two minutes? get close and flurry like a madman for the last 60 seconds, 8 out of 10 people will probably score that round for you In a 12 round fight, Hoya edges it out on the cards, IMO... In a 15 rounder, he's bound to fade, he almost always did (his surge against Ike notwithstanding) and Cokes, who had an old school fighter's calm, economic rhythm, is bound to be far fresher down the stretch and could pull ahead... I'd make Cokes the favorite over the full 15 Be a good fight, interesting
