Cotto may never be the same

[Gandalf]

You never can tell until they get back in the ring, and only the fighters themselves have any real inkling of what it took out of them.

Cotto just got stopped but fighters have come back from being stopped before. Some fighters respond differently than others. I like to think he can bounce back, but you never know until they jump through those ropes.

[kingfrnk]

im not so sure how Cotto will be either. i just rewatched the margarito fight but instead of watching Cotto i watched tony. i watched every punch Tony threw body shots head shots, and there was a right hand that hit Cotto so hard that Cottos blood got on the camera . he took major punishment from Margs im not sure if Cotto can win the rematch but im hoping he does since hes still one of my favorite fighters currently. we will find out in the rematch with Margarito im sure he will get through Jennings.

[Onix]

All great replies to my original post and question. I know being a fan of a specific boxer than seeing him lose is hard to swallow and we all want to believe he can make it back.

I see this fight to be a throwback to the Chavez/Taylor fight literally the same thing was happening, Taylor putting on the clinic and Chavez kept on driving forward till he caught his man and although Chavez got a gift after that fight Taylor was never the same, both in the ring and outside. He took too much punishment and now has speech problems and speaks alot slower.

I am not saying that Margo put on that kind of punishment, but It didnt look like Chavez did either at the time. Time will tell.

[Chino]

although Chavez got a gift after that fight Taylor

Not sure if you can call a fight a gift if the referee asks the fighter "Are you ok?" only to have him blank stare at the referee with a disfigured face and no answer. The rules of boxing are clear in that situation.
Will Cotto be the same? Not sure about that if he ends up getting another beating at the rematch or even if he gets rocked, bloody face / cuts, etc. Against Jennings just like Cotto has already when facing past journeymen.
He has to tottaly knock out Jennings to look like he's back in track. I wouldn't get all excited for this fight as much as I didn't when he faced Gomez though.

[Onix]

although Chavez got a gift after that fight Taylor

Not sure if you can call a fight a gift if the referee asks the fighter "Are you ok?" only to have him blank stare at the referee with a disfigured face and no answer. The rules of boxing are clear in that situation.
Will Cotto be the same? Not sure about that if he ends up getting another beating at the rematch or even if he gets rocked, bloody face / cuts, etc. Against Jennings just like Cotto has already when facing past journeymen.
He has to tottaly knock out Jennings to look like he's back in track. I wouldn't get all excited for this fight as much as I didn't when he faced Gomez though.

there was like 2 seconds left when the fight was stopped. Its pretty hard not to to say it was a gift, and for the most part taylor was responsive to steele's instructions.

[Chino]

although Chavez got a gift after that fight Taylor

Not sure if you can call a fight a gift if the referee asks the fighter "Are you ok?" only to have him blank stare at the referee with a disfigured face and no answer. The rules of boxing are clear in that situation.
Will Cotto be the same? Not sure about that if he ends up getting another beating at the rematch or even if he gets rocked, bloody face / cuts, etc. Against Jennings just like Cotto has already when facing past journeymen.
He has to tottaly knock out Jennings to look like he's back in track. I wouldn't get all excited for this fight as much as I didn't when he faced Gomez though.

there was like 2 seconds left when the fight was stopped. Its pretty hard not to to say it was a gift, and for the most part taylor was responsive to steele's instructions.

If the rules say that if there are a few seconds left in the last round then he can continue even if his face is disfigured and he doesn't answer to the referee then I would also agree that the stopage was wrong. But no, rules state that if the boxer can't answer and doesn't seem like he can continue then the fight is stopped REGARDLESS of time. A fighter that can continue after a knock down normally gets up and walks to the referee with firm steps and boxing stance showing he can continue and even answer VOCALLY "Yes, I am fine" or whatever. Taylor did NONE of those.

[Spicoli]

Cliché but time will tell.Imo,the damage sustained mentally will out weigh the physical damage in his case.I think Cotto can regroup and find his footing as a champion again.The man was improving in his ability all the way up until his brutal confrontation with Tony and he is still fit and fluid.But,none of that is viable if he does not believe it where it counts.In his chest and in his head.I still believe he needs to approach his return the right/smart way and imo....a rematch with Margarito one fight removed is not it.All in all,I do not think he can beat Tony.There are also differences in Chavez/Taylor and Tony/Cotto.Talk about a mentally crushing defeat....Taylors might appear much more damaging,with the ending and huge all time shadow that one produced.Taylor could and did stand with Chavez in spots,He moved Chavez and fought JCC's fight when touched and battled back with effect,Chavez respected his pop.In that regard,I do not believe Cotto is like Taylor.I think he rebounds stronger than Taylor in respected careers but we will see.

[boozeboxer]

Not sure if you can call a fight a gift if the referee asks the fighter "Are you ok?" only to have him blank stare at the referee with a disfigured face and no answer. The rules of boxing are clear in that situation.
Will Cotto be the same? Not sure about that if he ends up getting another beating at the rematch or even if he gets rocked, bloody face / cuts, etc. Against Jennings just like Cotto has already when facing past journeymen.
He has to tottaly knock out Jennings to look like he's back in track. I wouldn't get all excited for this fight as much as I didn't when he faced Gomez though.

there was like 2 seconds left when the fight was stopped. Its pretty hard not to to say it was a gift, and for the most part taylor was responsive to steele's instructions.

If the rules say that if there are a few seconds left in the last round then he can continue even if his face is disfigured and he doesn't answer to the referee then I would also agree that the stopage was wrong. But no, rules state that if the boxer can't answer and doesn't seem like he can continue then the fight is stopped REGARDLESS of time. A fighter that can continue after a knock down normally gets up and walks to the referee with firm steps and boxing stance showing he can continue and even answer VOCALLY "Yes, I am fine" or whatever. Taylor did NONE of those.

Taylor didn't want to continue.