Pondering 2 Outcomes Of the Cotto Vs Pac Fight

[Rican]

Very much wanting the first scenario with a Cotto win.Deserves it,has the tools to pull it off and is a peaked fluid and very much improved boxer with legit power in both hands.No spent shells here,no wild swinging face first guy here and certainly no human punching bag keeping a belt warm for Manny.

But,I'm still leaning slightly towards the 2nd scenario,on cuts down the stretch.But can not see him dropping Cotto,no way.Out hustling,straight volume shots and having Cotto one step behind him as the fight progresses.Don't think Manny is stronger than him,but very much hate Miguel's tendency to box out to the ropes and slide or square up.Its a pattern.

This was excellent analysis. However, Miguel seems to go to the ropes later in his fights and only against BIGGER guys. I can only remember Cotto relying on the ropes against Abdullaev, Mosley, Margarito, and Clottey. When Cotto is bigger and more powerful, he doesn't lose his stamina and doesn't go on the ropes. Does this point change your concerns about Cotto's "pattern"/"tendency"?

[zhubin]

Even though Pac has improved his skills tremendously over the past few years...he is still come forward, offensive fighter. To be effective against him...you need to be an excellent counter puncher...like Marquez. Pac loves to jump in and out...so you have to have excellent timing and speed to catch him. Cotto is not that kind of fighter. Don't get me wrong...Cotto has great skill...but using the Mosley, Judah fights to predict what will happen against Pac is all wrong. Sure, Mosley is fast...but he is no counter puncher. And that Mosley fight was damn close...and we all know Shane was no spring chicken. Judah is a bit more fluid than Shane...and his fight with Cotto was by no means a blowout. Zab had Cotto timed perfectly for most the fight...but as we all know....Zab is not the smartest or fittest fighter out there. Not trying to discredit Cotto's wins...it's just that against a very fast and extremely fit fighter like Pac...you better be mentally and physically at the top of your game. No question Cotto can hurt Pac...but for him to do that...he has to catch Pac. If he is going to be running around the ring trying to catch Pac against the ropes with body shots...he will have no chance. He will have to fight with controlled aggresion. Using his jab...and baiting Pac to come in where he can counter him. Not sure if that is a style of fighting Cotto can implement.