Could Cotto have ever won?

[Howlin Mad Missy]

As per title, do you think that Cotto in any way could have won the fight or was he always going to lose?

My thoughts are that in the early stages, behind the jab he looks excellent. He was catching Pacquiao and looked composed. He then wrecklessly tried to prove some point by banging with Pac and got clipped and went down.

That in itself was not a big knockdown and after he looked composed again, but the in the fourth decided to trade and took that great left and was never the same after it.

IMO he fought an awful fight. He made so many errors that for a great boxer are really strange. He comes across as intelligent but showed alot of stupidity in his tactics, no real composure and poor judgement.

On another day and with another trainer I believe he may have given a better account of himself and I'm sure that he is sorely disappointed, not about the loss, but in the manner of it. He didn't give himself the opportunity to win by fighting to his strengths.

I believe I said something long these lines on another thread.....which got ignored

He 'lost' it in round 4 in which he was clearly winning till he went for it big and got dropped hard. Once they both knew he could be hurt it changed the fight greatly. I do wonder how the cards would have looked if Cotto had then gone on the back foot and looked to nick the rounds rather than fight for them. 90% of the board would have called him a chicken whilst the rest of us would have applauded his ability to switch styles.

Did Miguel change his style ? or was he forced to by a superior fighter ?
In my mind Missy i think it was the latter.

That's what adapting means you pug.

[Nameless]

I said it and will say it again: We'll never know if Cotto could have won. However, with a good trainer and not a newbee who was panicking during some rounds and who couldn't give good advices to Cotto as how to redirect the shooting, things could have been MUCH more competitive.

[gest12645]

of course Cotto could have won. He was doing well early on , and if he wouldn't be knocked down it would be a different fight. Still , I'd pick Pacman. I still got Cotto in the top 10 (at 10) P4P , how about you?

[RozzySean]

If if if if....yeah, I think with a better camp and a better corner, he certainly would have made a closer fight. I still think Pac would have won on points, but Cotto the 4th round knockdown was the fight changer. I thought that Cotto would be able to hurt Pac when he landed, and Cotto probably thought the same thing. Wrong.

[awdleyfuturehalloffamer]

I feel he was winning the latter rounds by running and potshotting. Pac was landing hardly anything from the 10th on . He would have had to run the whole fight like dirrell or floyd.

[Violent Demise]

No. I had Cotto winning beforehand cuz I didn't think Pacquiao could take his power. Once it became obvious that he could it was over for Cotto. Boxing is not Cotto's greatest strength. It was only a matter of time before Pacquiao broke him down.

[cleveland steamer]

Wow the obvious escapes some people somehow.. Anyone watching the fight could tell that Pac was standing there letting Cotto tee off in the first couple of rounds.. the side to side movement wasnt there like he normally does in every fight and he didnt attack from the first round. Those were the obvious clues. So he let Cotto "be in the fight" until he felt like it there was nothing else to prove and went on the attack, which he revealed in the post fight press conference. Taking nothing away from Cotto as Im a big fan of his now, he banged with the best and it takes balls to do that.. lets just hope he doesnt turn into De Lahoya and start talking out of his ass later.

[Pugilistic]

Cotto did well early on with his jab and was effective boxing Pacquiao.

Cotto's biggest downfall was he started exchanging with Pacquiao and with Pacquiao being quicker, he got the better of all the exchanges.

Cotto would of never beat Pacquiao though.

Cotto simply wouldn't of been able to handle Pacquiao's speed or the pace Pacquiao was setting.

[Pugilistic]

No. I had Cotto winning beforehand cuz I didn't think Pacquiao could take his power. Once it became obvious that he could it was over for Cotto. Boxing is not Cotto's greatest strength. It was only a matter of time before Pacquiao broke him down.

Agreed.

I picked Cotto because i didn't think the small Pacquiao could deal with his power.

After watching the fight for a few rounds, i knew it was over for Cotto.

[BoxingChaos]

Cotto could have won if he only would have gone to the nuts a few times. Everyone knows Manny has big nuts. The both times Manny was stopped were caused by low blows.

Damn you Cotto

He went from low blotto to running man

Where was that cheating Cotto I once knew?

[awdleyfuturehalloffamer]

I thought pac's losses were one from a low blow and one from a punch to the liver.

[p4pking]

If you mean could he have done anything differently on Saturday to win, almost certainly not... Of course he can punch and so that slim chance was always there, but since Manny could stand up to his power and saw everything coming, slim may have left town after the first couple of rounds. If your asking could he have won if he were a couple years younger and never lost to Margarito, I have no idea how much more likely it would've been, I guess at least significantly... Thing is that people assert the loss to Margo ruined his confidence, but it was sort of that same bravado that got him in huge trouble against fighters he should've beaten in Corley and Torres. I think Cotto was always going to get lured into a brawl with Manny one way or another, and that's not a fight he would have ever won.

[KananKrus]

Yes, certainly he could have. Miguel Cotto does own the skillset and innate ability to beat Pac, however, it was not to be last Saturday night.

He simply was ill-equipped, and under-prepared for the overwhelming assault looming, put forth for him that night in the person of Manny Pacquiao.

Watch the seventh round of their fight, clean up a bit of Cotto's mistakes due to fatigue, and uniformly apply that for twelve rounds, then you have something that can possibly beat the PacMan.

Biggest question though, would anyone have the right size of "heart" to support a cardio-work that stressful and gruelling to sustain for the full duration of the fight, as exhibited by Miguel in the seventh round?

Maybe Junior? Nah!

Cotto had a chance because he can take a punch, and equally, had the big heart to risk harm in order for the chance to attain success.

Cotto is not done, he can even get better.

Rebuild with a better team around him than the one Saturday, then it will not surprise me one bit, if success comes to him a knockin', to this time, stick a tad bit longer.

[No Contest]

I honestly think Cotto could have won that fight if he used the jab more and started running earlier and avoided the exchanges. Sounds lame(everyone hates to watch it) but he was getting the worst of it inside.

[belakbox]

I think Cotto could have done much better if he had a trainer that could help improve his defense. I still think he would have lost, but with a better defense he wouldn't have taken so much damage and would've been able to make it a more competitive fight.