Cotto vs Duran at WW

Quote:

Originally Posted by ICB

Duran possibly had one of the best defenses of all time at coming forward, Duran is a class above Cotto IMO. Cotto wouldn't be able to keep Duran off with body shots either, just watch Duran when he was past his prime against a much bigger and stronger opponent Iran Barkey. He hammered Duran to the body and Duran wasn't even effected one bit in fact he got stronger as the fight went on.

I know Cotto wasn't at his best at Jr Welterweight but just watch his fight with only decent pressure fighter like Ndou, he was forced on the back foot all night and struggled to keep Ndou off him, and ditto with Shane Mosley as well. Duran's better defense, better stamina, better chin, amongst other things would give him the edge and i can see Duran stopping Cotto late on. Duran struggled with fast boxers with good movement but i don't think Cotto is fast enough foot work wise to really trouble Duran.

First, Duran was a lot bigger than he was at WW when he faced Barkley... I mean its like comparing the punishment James Toney can take at heavyweight, with what he could at smw, its not the same. Second something was obviously bothering Cotto when he faced Mosley, he was clearly in control of a very strong guy until something strange happened. Shane didn't wear him down because Cotto didn't look tired at all, he was still sharp, he was still landing the better punches, but something was bothering him. Against N'Dou it made sense to fight off the back foot because he wasn't taking a tough N'Dou out of there. I think it isn't correct saying DUran is a different class of fighter than Cotto, he definitely has more advantages when comparing them, but Cotto is still right in there in a competitive sense IMO. Like somebody else said I guess Cotto needs a few more tests in his career starting with July then December for us to better gauge just how good he really is.