Apr 25, 2012

Cotto Vs. Mayweather, Whoop de fucking doo


It’s less than two weeks away… Cotto Vs. Mayweather and my enthusiasm is as explosive as a firecracker doused in mice cum. Will I watch this fight? Sure. Will I pay for it? Hardly. My disdain for this match is for so many reasons that I recommend you pick up a glass of your preferred alcoholic beverage as I cover point by point why my expectations are so low that I’ve basically guaranteed that the fight will be better than what I expect.

If boxing in Texas is a fiasco, Floyd could be the ring leader of the Fiasco brigade. You know what, instead of Money, he should be Floyd Fiasco Mayweather Jr. If you’ve read this blog, you know I really could care less about Mayweather and would rather see a boxing world without our colorful little shithead.

Before I get too into this post, let’s say the three things Cotto is not:

  1. Miguel Cotto is not a legitimate 154 lb. fighter. He took a bullshit belt off the weakest link in the alphabet soup of boxing championships in the junior middle weight division, Yuri Foreman. He then fought Mayorga, a VERY Washed up Mayorga at that who is entertaining yet not competitive against higher class fighters. Lastly, he “avenged” his first professional loss versus Antonio Margarito last November. Btw, if you’re wondering why I put avenged in quotations it’s for the fact that hand wraps or none, an in-shape, non broken orbital bone donning Margarito would beat Cotto 4 out of 5 times and it all has to do with stamina. When they stopped the fight, Cotto looked like he needed a 5 hour energy drink while Margarito was saying that he didn’t need something as trivial as eyesight to defeat the Puerto Rican fighter.
  2. Second off, Cotto is not an elite fighter. Good he was until Margarito screwed up his career and Pacquiao showed him just how hard a little man can hit.
  3.  Thirdly, Cotto is not competition for Floyd Mayweather. Don’t get me wrong, Floyd has made this to be a career defining fight, but let’s stop the charade if only for this post, Cotto pretty much does not have a chance in hell against Floyd.
It's cute that people want to build this up as a fight, and here are some reasons why I have this opinion.


The physical aspect:

Damage received. Cotto may have been KO’d by Margarito and Pacquiao, but please don’t forget he also took a beating from Joshua Clottey who pretty much shot himself in the foot for not fighting the last two and a half rounds and letting Cotto sneak away with a split decision victory. Also remember his fights with Ricardo Torrers, who knocked him down, Zab Judah who cut his face up before getting systematically beat down by the superior Cotto, Shane Mosley, which actually brought out the best in Cotto but which was an uphill battle, or even Demarcus Corley who showed the world how a short right hook can put Cotto in a world of hurt. Floyd? I don’t remember the last time anyone got double digit connects on him in a round and he rarely if ever looks as if he’s been in a fight. Cotto is far from his prime and Floyd has never been tested.

Speed. Cotto is average for a 154 lb fighter and slow for a 147 lb fighter. Floyd, when compelled can show just how fast he can be. A bit shy of Shane Mosley or Roy Jones in their prime, but still fast as hell.

Reach. Cotto 67 inches. Floyd 72 inches. Plus, Floyd knows how to use his reach to keep fighters where he wants them and not an inch closer. 

Height. Cotto 5’7”. Floyd 5’8. Floyd doesn’t look that big until you see him in the ring with his opponent. Case in point, he made Shane Mosley look small.

Reflexes. Look at Floyd’s first knockdown in the Hatton fight… he was looking at Ricky's chin all the way until he landed his punch. Apart from that, I don’t think anyone in the sport of boxing has a quicker right hand lead. Cotto? Um… yeah, he’s a guy who was known as being a great body puncher who’s not going to the body all that much nowadays.

Repertoire. Cotto has a good left hook to the head, an excellent jab and if I think about it, I still remember that great left hook to the body. Floyd has a hell of a left hook, one of the best lead rights in boxing and a good right uppercut. Cotto has been known to switch south-paw from time to time and guess what, he's going to try it again since the fighters who have given Floyd some problems happen to be lefties. Good luck though, a southpaw fighter is wide open for a right hand lead and or a sidestepping uppercut. 

Defense. I’ve seen Floyd caught flush by very few shots in his career (maybe 2). Not in a fight. In his career. Cotto? Just learn to throw an uppercut and you'll tag the guy.

Stamina. Floyd has an untested reservoir of stamina. He’s never really had to dig deep but his training shows just how deep he could dig if he had to. Cotto? Last fight he was lucky a damaged orbital bone and mercy brought a stoppage in the Margarito fight. Two more rounds and it could have been a different story.

Training. Floyd is ALWAYS in shape. Like Bernard Hopkins, he’s a junkie for fitness although still shy of the great Bernard’s habits. Cotto? I’ve lost count how many times I’ve heard of friends from PR who say they saw him getting trashed in his native Caguas.

The mental aspect

Here’s actually an arena where I think Cotto is solid. He does not let opponents intimidate him and he’s borderline stoic. He’s always in control even when he’s in trouble and he doesn’t feel the need to talk himself up. Floyd is all about the mind games and psyching people out and this time around, he’s saved the parlor tricks for various reasons, and one of them is that he thinks it’s a waste of energy with Cotto to try and intimidate him or get him angry. 

By the way, in case you hadn’t noticed, when it all boils down, this is just a big money fight. It’s not a great fight. It’s not a boxing fan’s dream matchup. It’s just about money. Once again Floyd has cherry picked an opponent he knows without a shadow of a doubt he can beat, and he’s going to cash in. If the fight ends up being entertaining, I’ll be pleasantly surprised because I haven’t seen a Floyd fight that’s hooked me in. I didn’t establish a timeframe because none is necessary. I’ve never seen a Floyd fight that hasn’t bordered on boring me. The only one that managed to get my blood boiling was his dismantling of an aged Arturo Gatti because I really did enjoy Gatti and I was torn at seeing the great Gatti get torn to crap.

In addition, if you hadn’t noticed, Cotto is looking to retire soon and this is a payday. One hell of a payday albeit an uncompetitive one. Floyd is just looking for yet another excuse to show people that he’s the greatest of all time and all this is to me is just a Globetrotter’s exhibition match, as have been most of his fights.

That being said, there’s three more things I want to talk about.

First off, the undercard. I hate comparing UFC undercards with boxing PPV undercards for the basic reason of envy. UFC matches people who will give good fights, good competition and who will show who the best in the world is. Hell, even Mayweather Vs Cotto is a mismatch, so why change the tempo in the rest of the undercard. Saul Alvarez Vs Mosley?… nice. Just another name to beef up Canelo’s résumé while Sergio Martínez is forced to smile at the level of chickenshitness between Saul and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. I want Shane to shut me up, unfortunately, I'm pretty sure he’s done. He’s way done. He was a steak that was well done an hour ago and you left the stove on while going off to watch porn done. Underneath that, you have Alfredo Gomez vs Jessie Vargas, a fight which might be entertaining or it may stink up the arena. And underneath that, a long faded Carlos Quintana Vs. Deandre Latimore. Try and find someone who taped UFC 145 and compare that card and what happened versus what we’ll see in Ring Kings. In other words, this card is a fucking joke. 

The second thing on my list, the Mixed Martial Arts fighter known as Jon Bones Jones. Now that I mention UFC 145, I feel the need to bring up Jon Jones. First off, he’s ranked as a pound for pound fighter and unlike Floyd, he’s earned this distinction. He hasn’t beat up subpar competition. He’s faced the best and beat them. Lyoto Machida, Quinton Jackson, Mauricio Rua, Brandon Vera, Vladimir Matyushenko, and most recently, Rashad Evans. These are a who’s who list of MMA fighters. This is not the easy road. This is not the Floyd road. This is the road of a champion. Also, on his way to these victories, Jones has not flaunted money or been an arrogant fuckface. He’s been an ambassador for Black America I’m proud to support and I’m Hispanic. He’s respectful, a sportsman, and after his fight with Evans, the two comments that caught my attention the most were that he was disappointed with his performance (even when he dominated) and that he wanted to rekindle his friendship with Evans. Floyd tosses money, talks shit, is arrogant and in my opinion is a fucking embarrassment to Black America. He is not who young black kids should look up to. He’s in league with Ron Artest in my opinion and his behavior leading up to this fight is because on one side, he knows it’s a waste of time to try and rattle Cotto and because right after his fight, he’s serving jail time. So don’t think his good behavior is pure and heartfelt. Like all else in Floyd’s life, it’s an act, and one that has often been harmful to boxing and Black People. Still, it’ll sell more than a million PPV buys… which begs the question, if showcasing the worst of Black America by being an arrogant asshole, who cherry picks opponents and sucker punches opponents to get the KO gets you this much fame and money, why take the high road?

The answer is simple. Because you should be better than that.

Leave your comments here or send hate mail to jokerwashere@gmail.com

Cheers

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