THOUGHTS ON THE FIGHT: (COTTO-CLOTTEY)

Good post, except the stuff about the ring & shoes - there is no slippery ring conspiracy, and no it was not "rigged" for either fighter.

I can tell you my take on Clottey, since I have been pondering it half the night wondering what exactly he was thinking.

Cotto is a better fighter than Clottey in just about every way, not just in the heart department, but technically as well. I in fact had Cotto up 5-1 after the first 6, with a knockdown to boot (Lederman gave Clottey 2 of the first 6 which was reasonable as well). Clottey performed well, but had almost no shot... until the cut. The great forehead of Ghana did it again, and ooh baby did Clottey like that cut. You could see him trying to land on it whenever possible, trying to exacerbate the bleeding, and Cotto was utterly shaken by this (which I will address later). So Clottey just took over in the middle rounds, and frankly beat up Cotto as he pawed at the cut and flailed/ran. But as the fight wore on, Clottey began to realize (as did the commentators) that what looked like an easy coast to a stoppage was nothing of the sort since Cotto just wouldn't fucking go away.

Although exaggerated as usual, one should note that Lamps & Max actually said this would be Miguel's best victory EVER if he pulled it out. They were that certain he was going down in flames, and so was Clottey until about round 11 when Cotto pretty much showed he is half heart half balls of brass by out-throwing Clottey and landing equally. I am 100% certain that Clottey began to realize that not only wasn't this going to be easy, not only was it not going to be a stoppage... but that with one good eye Miguel Cotto was going to beat a Joshua Clottey who was 100% down the stretch and had no one but HIMSELF to blame for not closing the show.

So that's why you got the embarassingly transparent "he hit be behind my wittle head" and "he hit me bewow the belt" BULLSHIT in the final round. Clottey, for all his typical Quartey-style bitching and moaning after the fight (must be something about Ghana?) KNEW he was heading for a loss, which is why he threw away all sembelance of manhood and tried to milk every possible occasion for extra points or a DQ. Utterly shameless. But he knew the score, and wouldn't have pulled that shit otherwise.

As far as I am concerned, despite the fact that for 4-5 rounds Clottey beat up Cotto and may have done more damage as a whole in that fight, there is no legitimate way you could have given Clottey 7 rounds, and due to the knockdown he needed 7 to win. Cotto won, Clottey lost, period. And Clottey only has himself to blame for not bringing it home when it was in his grasp and all he did was walk around with that stupid guard up, and spend his time trying to fake injury from illegal punches which barely grazed him.

Lastly, Max Kellerman stated that Cotto's vulnerability may be what makes him compelling to watch. I agree, but not so much his vulnerability in the ring. To me, he appears to be a nightmare to try and stop. But he has the same vulnerability many P.R. fighters before him had, and that is outside the ring. He makes bad choices for his corner & career because he trusts & loves his people, but he doesn't need any more loyal friends around him. He needs a GOOD TRAINER who will help him develop different game plans for different opponents, and maybe more importantly who GIVES HIM SOME FUCKING ADVICE in the corner! Cotto was clearly enormously bothered by the cut, and was lost out there for quite sometime trying to figure out what to do, and all his corner could say was "hit him harder".

Miguel Cotto needs a quality trainer immediately if he wants to get back to winning fights handily, the way he can, instead of eeking them out while taking a beating.

 

clottey is a damn good fighter and is gonna be really hard to beat, let alone to beat convincingly. His only problem is as Xplosive said, he's a world class chocker, but even with this flaw, I don't see alot of people beating him at ww

 

He aint wrong

 

My thoughts on Cotto are that any questions about his heart from the Marg fight should have been erased tonight. The man has tremendous heart. Having said that, after tonight I'm convinced that he's starting to slowly decline. Of course Clottey's style was a big problem for him, but Miguel just looked way slower, and less fluid than pre-Marg, and I dont think THAT part had to do with Clottey.

Cotto better go after Berto, cause I'd pick him to lose against Manny, Floyd, Shane in a rematch, or Clottey in a rematch.

As for Clottey... he's a skilled, and fairly talented fighter, but doesnt have the heart n desire to ever be at the top. He choked against Marg, and now he choked again tonight. The only reason he didnt choke against Judah, and is because Zab is the ONE fighter who's an even BIGGER choker than Clottey.

Ike Quartey he is NOT... and clowns really need to stop using that comparison. A prime Quartey woulda wiped his ass with Clottey AND Cotto.

 

Clottey is a bitch.

Nothing I hate more than fighters bitching up and trying to get the opponent in trouble by overreacting or inventing a foul.

I'm glad Cotto won. It was close, but I thought Cotto was the deserved winner.

Oh and like others said, yes Cotto looked slower and less fluid.

And it had nothing to do with Clottey, because I said the EXACT same thing when Cotto whupped Jennings. Even though he was fighting a scrub, he looked slower and just worse in that fight than he used to.

I don't know whether it's a product of Marge's plaster of paris wraps or what, but Cotto has declined.

Pacman would win a clear decision over Cotto, could possibly even stop him.

 

for all the talk of clottey being a bitch and a choker, a lot of which I agree with, a point shouldve been deducted from cotto for that blatant rabbit punch. mercante jr even said something like "aw shit" when it happened because he knew it was a foul worthy of a deduction but he didn't wanna affect the decision.

 

Agreed. Clottey still reacts like a maricon though. His fellow African warriors, Quartey and Nelson, woulda said fuck the fouls and continued fighting w/o complaint.

 

At the end of the fight I felt like ...thought Clottey won, but it wasn't a robbery.

With that said, physically I would have preferred to have left the building as a loser than the winner. Cotto got fucked up.

I thought Cotto was hurt in virtually every round. You have to question his long to mid term prospects after taking so much punishment two years in a row.

Arum should look to get him soft touches or cash out with a Mosley rematch.

In fact, if I'm Arum I actively pursue a fight with Berto...Cotto could beat Pac but I don't see it being a particularly interesting or exciting fight.

 

I thought this fight was very exciting. As a matter of fact it had everything you wanted in fight. I mean it had a knockdown, it had blood, it had controversy, it had 2 guys trying to knock he others heads off. For moments I thought that Cotto was gonna be stopped. Then you would see Cotto land a couple shots and pin Clottey up against the ropes and think damn Cotto might stop Clottey. It was a great fight with great momentum changes throughtout the fight. What more can we ask for as fight fans. Yeah the fight could have gone either way but you know what that's what happens when you leave up to the judges. Clottey can bitch all he wants but he had his chance to take over the fight and win all the championship rounds but for some reason he stopped throwing punches. Now the judge that had the score 116-111 should never be allowed to score a fight ever again. This fight was a barn burner. For those that thought that this was gonna be stinker you guys were wrong and should be eating hella crow. I'll Holla 5000

 

We see it exactly the same way, good post.

Only thing I might disagree with is Pacquaio winning a decision over Cotto. I think he would stop him.

 

AWSOME POST!!!!!!:bears:

 

X,

Any idea as why is Cotto much slower now then before? This has be baffled. Is it his training? Or like you mentioned is it primarily Cotto's decline?

 

REED Thinks it's a Bit PREMATURE to Say That Cotto has SLOWED DOWN or was LESS Fluid...The Thing is, he was in there w/a Guy that Possessed BETTER Handspeed & MORE Fluidity, so Quite Naturally Cotto would Look INFERIOR N those Regards...

The Thing REED Keeps Going Back to is the Level of OFFENSIVE SUCCESS Cotto had, as Compared to Other Guys Clottey has Fought...Cotto SMARTLY Attacked the Body to Offset Clottey's High Guard, he Landed HARD Left Hooks ALL NIGHT & when he Trapped Clottey on the Ropes Cotto BROKE THRU His Guard w/Right Hands...

Cotto's NEVER Been a "Speed" Guy, so he's Gonna Look SLOWER or Resemble a PLODDER when Faced w/a Faster Guy...He's Only 28, Fellas...



REED:mj:

 

Lots of great posts in this thread. One thing I have not seen written (although admittedly I have not read 100% of what has been offered here) is that the "tackle" in the corner had nothing to do with Clottey's knee.

I saw it at live speed, but the replay confirmed: Clottey's knee buckles akwardly in the corner BEFORE he and Cotto got tangled up. In fact, the throw down accured because Clottey was lunging to tie Cotto up after feeling his knee give out. Watch it again and I think it is pretty clear. I thought Max picked up on it for a second, but they never really explored that possibility.

Anyway, for as much of a NON foul as that incident was, the rabbit punch was pretty blatant and should have cost Cotto a point. I thought Mercante did a nice job trying to let the fight play out the way it was supposed to be. after the rabbit punch he was visably frustrated because he did not want to take the fight out of the fighter's hands. And while I appreciate that, Cotto should have been hit for a point there.

1 or 2 points either way was fine with me, but 116-111 was obviously off base. There is no way Cotto clearly won 8 rounds of that fight.

In the end, I was glad to see Cotto get the nod because of the way he fought through the cut. SEVERAL other fighters would have gone to the cards early, especially after having the knockdown in his pocket.

Good fight, but Clottey has something to prove next time he is on the big stage.

 

Cotto is a men's MAN is every sense of the word. He suffered a wide gaping cut early in the fight. by a nonintentional headbutt, fought on when clearly he could have found a way out by the end of the fourth to win a technical decision. Never offered any EXCUSES for his uncle, or for Margarito's loaded wraps.

Not many welterweights are WILLING to fight Clottey. Too much risk for little reward. That is slowly changing.

Pacquaio was ringside and that looks to be the clear path for Cotto. That's the fight that would make him the most MONEY. Right now Pacquaio breaks down Cotto then KHTFO.

The Calderon comment by Arum was also besides from true, HILARIOUS :laughing:. It is clear they have no intention of WAITING on Floyd.

 

Does the Same Apply to Acelino Freitas???...



REEDopcorn:

 

hmm...

How about Floyd?opcorn:

 

If we're Comparing him to Freitas, Master of the DOUBLE "No Mas", then MOST DEFINITELY...


REED:mj:

 

The NBA has Broom Boys...

WHY in this day of AGE of Boxing...these guys can not have One or Two broom guys to DRY up this Ring..

They can get in...wipe and get out in like 40 seconds with enough time to get out of there for the next round...

Also Why did it take so long to tabulate the Scorecards...

Its not Diffieriental Calculus...
Simple Addition and it takes that long..

The judges were cooking the cards for the SD...


With todays technology...the Ref should collect the cards and drop into a machine/reader..

So by the end of the 12th Round the second that ScoreSheet leaves the Judge hand the Ref drops in box and instant tabulations...

The Fact that the Scorecard is all one sheet makes me furious..

 

:doh:

 

Clottey did hat Clottey does; tire, not throw punches and piss and moan when he doesn't get the nod.

Good fight.

 

I hope you guys realize Cotto isn't that good. Clottey sucks. He really is a loser. He fights a one eyed Cotto and can't miss him with a right hand and he still can't win even though we all know he really did.

In some sense, this is the most impressed I was with Cotto. He had a right to quit after4 rounds and take the victory. He fought that steaming pile of shit for 12 rounds when he didn't have to. Still the fix was in. Cotto body slammed and brain stemmed Clottey. Mercante even said "Oh shit." and still took no point.

 

KaukipRrr....how constructive...care to comment rather than just leave an emocitocon...

 

:: Reed please,..

 

Man, do we really have to get back to 7 years ago? What purpose would that serve? We ALL know Freitas QUIT while he was ahead on points against Corrales. That's the PAST. I moved on. Can YOU?

Enjoy life a little bit Reed. I wish nothing but SUCCESS and HAPPINESS to you bro.

 

would he really know what differential calculus is though...idk on this one brother Kauki.

As to the points, I agree with the consensus that Clottey is a born loser, and that Cotto fought well.

Something I'm very discouraged by, as a long time proponent of Cotto's is that he has a tendency to fight backing up, that he seems to love now. I hate watching someone of his talent fight off the back foot, if it were up to me, he would be forced to come after it and do the offensive damage he's capable of.

Same problem against Margarito, just rarely sat on his punches and couldn't get a guy's respect because he was content with Arm Punches.

My brother and I were arguing about this in the aftermath, and he will never admit to this take publicly, but he mentioned that Cotto would beat Pacquiao. I just want the record to reflect this if that fight ever happens, because Pacquiao would crucify Cotto.

 

So your saying he did win?