Cuauhtemoc's take on Cotto vs Canelo card

[Bardock]

Good post fam

[CubanGuyNYC]

First off it was a great card with the exception of the Rigo fight...

Great report, bro. Enjoyed reading that. Too bad there's no money in boxing journalism. Lol

That Miura-Vargas bout was something else. I kept wincing. Takashi looked like he thought he was working the heavy bag. I'm beyond impressed with the way Francisco was able to withstand that onslaught and land the money shot. I guess that chance was always in the air. Miura was all about landing bombs.

The cards for Cotto-Canelo were too wide, but the right man got the nod. I saw the fight the same way you did. I thought Miguel won 4, maybe 5 rounds. I'm glad you expressed your thoughts on why Alvarez didn't press. I speculated maybe Canelo respected Cotto too much as a warrior to lay a beating on him. It was evident by about the fourth round that Miguel's punches weren't having any effect. Canelo was just too big and strong. I kept expecting him to walk right through Cotto and knock him out. I think it was around the eighth round, just after the bell sounded, that Alvarez did a little shuffle. It confirmed to me that it was all just a walk in the park for him. I expected a little more of a war, but it was solid fight nonetheless.

Last, and definitely LEAST, the Rigo sparring session. I don't know where to start. I would be embarrassed if I wasn't so angry (still). If a man tries his best and fails, he can hold his head high. No one can tell me Rigondeaux even tried Saturday night. I've finally come to the conclusion he just doesn't care. And now, neither do I.

[baya]

it wasn't the war i thought it would be but the same outcome, a close fight. canelo has improved a lot over the years and i really like his corner. the kid can fight and i'd love to see him GGG next year at a CW of 155.

[_original_]

Good thread as usual but l think you're neglecting a big factor regarding the Canelo-Cotto bout; the size advantage.

[El Malo.]

Good thread as usual but l think you're neglecting a big factor regarding the Canelo-Cotto bout; the size advantage.

Yeah that played a major role in the fight. Nelo was talking a small step back and Cotto just couldn't get to him. Cottos best punch the jab just couldn't connect and he was never able to set up the rest of his artillery. The times that he tried to get inside and fight Nelo would answer back and Cotto just couldn't implement his plan. Props to Nelo too, dude did what he had to do but he does need to be more active. And when the fight was over Nelo did show Cotto much respect and that'show fights should end. Good night of boxing overall except the obvious Rigo fight. They have to get through his head that he needs to take a few more risk and initiate the fight.

[!! Shawn]

First off it was a great card with the exception of the Rigo fight.

Ronnie Rios vs Jason Velez

Great back and forth fight, until I thought Rios started getting the better of Velez in the middle to later rounds. I thought his boxing was surprisingly better, was more accurate and landed the clearly harder shots. I thought he broke Velez in that fight. Great win for him and I like what I saw.

Rigo vs Francisco

I will be the first to say I love this sport, and don't want to see a brawl every time out BUT.....Watching Rigo fight is like watching old people play golf while drinking mint juleps. 72 punches landed in the FIGHT! The entire fight! Rigo doesn't want to engage, doesn't want to entertain, he does barely enough to win rounds and it's hard to stay awake while he's doing this.

A Loma fight would be great, but he's already said he doesn't want that. So where does he go? I'm not sure because nobody is going to pay to see this guy fight.

Vargas vs Miura

Now this is boxing, wow! What a fight, what heart, what will and determination. Miura showed an incredible chin as he was getting hammered in the first 3 rounds and then seemed to take over the fight. When he knocked Vargas down and split him open even wider, I thought it was over. Vargas showed why we love Mexican fighters and I can't believe the come back he had. FOTY? I think so, and maybe best fight in many years to be honest. Vargas deserves to be champ, and hats off to Miura as he showed why he is a champion. We love Mexico vs PR but Mexico vs Japan has brought us some great one's as well.

Cotto vs Canelo

I have read a lot of silly things regarding this fight and I have now watched it twice. First off, Cotto is a very skilled and experienced fighter, who is a veteran and great champion. He moved very well, used the jab well at times but I scored the fight 116-112 for Canelo and here's why.

One of the things people complained about was that Canelo has no footwork, this is nonsense. He's not Willie Pep, but he has great fundamentals and is a very good instinctual fighter. He's always on balance, and always in position to throw hard shots. His defense from early on to now has grown in leaps and bounds. His head movement, slips and counters are impressive and you can tell once he gained confidence, he was slowly taking command of the fight.

Cotto has his moments but I think his inability to land the jab consistently (he landed it more against Mayweather) limited him. That's his money punch, and that shot sets up everything else. Canelo's team trained to stop the left hook, and he did. Cotto landed very few left hooks, and when he did they were partially blocked. Cotto did do some good body work though.

On the other hand, Canelo landed well with the lead hand, including uppercuts and left hooks both on top and to the body. The right hand was also key for Canelo and was landing it over Cotto's jab. I was surprised because Cotto has a great jab and I think it showed the difference in speed between the two.

They were very competitive rounds, but I think the pressure and the hard shots were the difference for me. Cotto was just not that effective and we need to remember this is professional boxing. It's about landing hard shots, bringing the fight to your opponent and I thought Canelo did that.

I also think that Canelo respected Cotto too much. I have always said that Canelo isn't a come forward ****er, he's a counter puncher by trade. If he applied more pressure, and let his hands go more, I think he could have stopped Cotto. In the last 2 rounds we saw a little of that but he isn't one to take chances, it's not in his nature.

Anyway good card, good fights and I don't think Cotto lost anything and I think Canelo gained a lot. I believe that a lot of people realized Canelo is better and more skilled than people think. Now GGG is another animal all together, but I think it will be a better fight than people think. Let's remember Canelo is all of 25 years old, he's learned a lot and come a long way.

The main knock on Canelo is that he is incapable of punching on the move. He has to set his feet in concrete to fire off combinations, and they don't move an inch once he starts throwing. Thats why people say his feet are slow, he is unable for some reason to come in with the punches, or move in any way with punches or work around someone. He has to be in defense mode to do any of that.

[!! Shawn]

Great report, bro. Enjoyed reading that. Too bad there's no money in boxing journalism. Lol

That Miura-Vargas bout was something else. I kept wincing. Takashi looked like he thought he was working the heavy bag. I'm beyond impressed with the way Francisco was able to withstand that onslaught and land the money shot. I guess that chance was always in the air. Miura was all about landing bombs.

The cards for Cotto-Canelo were too wide, but the right man got the nod. I saw the fight the same way you did. I thought Miguel won 4, maybe 5 rounds. I'm glad you expressed your thoughts on why Alvarez didn't press. I speculated maybe Canelo respected Cotto too much as a warrior to lay a beating on him. It was evident by about the fourth round that Miguel's punches weren't having any effect. Canelo was just too big and strong. I kept expecting him to walk right through Cotto and knock him out. I think it was around the eighth round, just after the bell sounded, that Alvarez did a little shuffle. It confirmed to me that it was all just a walk in the park for him. I expected a little more of a war, but it was solid fight nonetheless.

Last, and definitely LEAST, the Rigo sparring session. I don't know where to start. I would be embarrassed if I wasn't so angry (still). If a man tries his best and fails, he can hold his head high. No one can tell me Rigondeaux even tried Saturday night. I've finally come to the conclusion he just doesn't care. And now, neither do I.

The Rigo fight shouldn't have been put on TV, Rock should have known better than to throw him into a fight on short notice when he was not prepared with a full camp. I suspect a large part of his caution was pacing himself, as well as his timing not being as sharp as it would be with a proper camp.

For a fighter of his caliber to take a fight on 2 weeks notice, is basically unheard of. Rigo also fights to the level of his opposition, so to put him in there with no training camp, and against someone that posed no threat to him was a guarantee for a boring fight.

Thats why matchmaking is so important. You have to know things about your fighter, and match them in the way the showcases them the best.

You put him in with someone like Hasegawa who will go out on his sheild and give everything he has, you get a great fight.

You put him in someone like Donaire, you get a wonderful chess match. You put him in with a bum, you get nothing.

[CubanGuyNYC]

The Rigo fight shouldn't have been put on TV, Rock should have known better than to throw him into a fight on short notice when he was not prepared with a full camp. I suspect a large part of his caution was pacing himself, as well as his timing not being as sharp as it would be with a proper camp.

For a fighter of his caliber to take a fight on 2 weeks notice, is basically unheard of. Rigo also fights to the level of his opposition, so to put him in there with no training camp, and against someone that posed no threat to him was a guarantee for a boring fight.

Thats why matchmaking is so important. You have to know things about your fighter, and match them in the way the showcases them the best.

You put him in with someone like Hasegawa who will go out on his sheild and give everything he has, you get a great fight.

You put him in someone like Donaire, you get a wonderful chess match. You put him in with a bum, you get nothing.

I'm sorry, bro; I just don't buy any of those arguments anymore. I used to think much the same way, until I realized they're all negated by the fact that Rigo just doesn't care. Does 11 months' inactivity explain, much less excuse, 72 landed punches in ten rounds? Does it excuse a staring contest with a woefully inferior fighter who, two fights prior, had been TKOed in round one? And did you consider the fact that that same inferior fighter had the same notice and preparation time as Rigo did?

Rigondeaux can KO people when he wants to. He can be active when he wants to be. He tore through Willie Casey in one round. Blasted him out of there. I wasn't expecting exactly that here, but I honestly thought Rigo would take this last guy out in four. I don't care how long it's been since his last fight. The body in front of him didn't belong in the same arena with Rigo, let alone the same ring. If Rigondeaux had made an effort to take the guy out, as I've seen him do before, I would've been okay with him. But he made zero effort. He made zero effort because all he cares about is getting paid, nothing else. I can't support a guy like that.

[Weltschmerz]

It was much closer than the scores read. And I disagree that Alvarez 'respected' Cotto too much - to the contrary, he fought a mature and well-paced fight, not rushing and beating Cotto comprehensively in the end.

[Cuauhtémoc1520]

Great report, bro. Enjoyed reading that. Too bad there's no money in boxing journalism. Lol

That Miura-Vargas bout was something else. I kept wincing. Takashi looked like he thought he was working the heavy bag. I'm beyond impressed with the way Francisco was able to withstand that onslaught and land the money shot. I guess that chance was always in the air. Miura was all about landing bombs.

The cards for Cotto-Canelo were too wide, but the right man got the nod. I saw the fight the same way you did. I thought Miguel won 4, maybe 5 rounds. I'm glad you expressed your thoughts on why Alvarez didn't press. I speculated maybe Canelo respected Cotto too much as a warrior to lay a beating on him. It was evident by about the fourth round that Miguel's punches weren't having any effect. Canelo was just too big and strong. I kept expecting him to walk right through Cotto and knock him out. I think it was around the eighth round, just after the bell sounded, that Alvarez did a little shuffle. It confirmed to me that it was all just a walk in the park for him. I expected a little more of a war, but it was solid fight nonetheless.

Last, and definitely LEAST, the Rigo sparring session. I don't know where to start. I would be embarrassed if I wasn't so angry (still). If a man tries his best and fails, he can hold his head high. No one can tell me Rigondeaux even tried Saturday night. I've finally come to the conclusion he just doesn't care. And now, neither do I.

it wasn't the war i thought it would be but the same outcome, a close fight. canelo has improved a lot over the years and i really like his corner. the kid can fight and i'd love to see him GGG next year at a CW of 155.

Agreed, but I don't know if I made myself clear enough. I don't mean Canelo respected him in terms of not wanting to KO him, I think he respected Cotto's ability to hurt him and he didn't want to take chances.

I have said this a few times about Canelo, he's not the come forward type of a guy. He is a careful, smart fighter that won't engage unless he has too.