Mayweather-Cotto
WILL FLOYD MAYWEATHER-MIGUEL COTTO BE THE FIGHT OF THE YEAR?
San Francisco, CA– The “Fight of 2012” is a throwback of sorts as it pits two great fighters with contrasting styles against one another for the World 154 lb. championship. Yeah, the man with the seemingly growing head, Saul Alvarez may hold the WBC title, and unheralded but outstanding Austin Trout holds the WBA trinket, in my mind. although Alvarez and Trout may progress to the status of greatness, they’re not there yet. Miguel Cotto is a wonderful person, great husband, has a beautiful wife and family. He was always the heir apparent to Tito Trinidad until his ex-promoter Top Rank sacrificed him to Antonio “Loaded Gloves” Margarito and then made him cut off an arm to face Manny “Suspected of PEDs” Pacquiao. Years ago, Top Rank was protecting Cotto, then an undefeated jr. welterweight who was able to overcome the adversity of being hurt and dropped to come back and win. The knock on Cotto, was that his feet were too slow, something he realizes and is working to improve on for this Saturday’s showdown with boxing’s best boxer Floyd Mayweather.
HOW DOES ONE IMPROVE “FOOT SPEED?”
Having trained fighters who walked around the ring like they were wearing lead boots, I could never find a way to significantly improve this shortcoming. Cotto has labored greatly over the last two months to improve his “side to side” movement and the overall speed of his footwork. But can it be done? Can you teach a slow old dog new tricks, or compel him to fight in a manner he has never excelled at before? The Cotto camp says yes, while common sense says no.
THE HEART & DESIRE OF MIGUEL COTTO!
You can’t question the intestinal fortitude of the Puerto Rican fighter. As fearless as they come, as proud as a fighter can be, Cotto is facing insurmountable odds against Floyd Mayweather this weekend. One of the few advantages he has is that Floyd isn’t pulling a “bitch” move (like Manny Pacquiao) by making Cotto fight at anything under 154 lbs. I don’t care if Manny is God, has rediscovered God, is a born again Christian, the Pacman is less than the fighters his people try to compare him too, mainly Roberto Duran. Although “Hand of Stone” at times had a “belly of jelly,” he is ranked by most historians as a greater fighter than Ray Leonard, this even though Duran pulled the “No Mas” fight in 1980 and lost almost every round to Leonard when they opened the Mirage Hotel outdoors in the freezing cold of December 7, 1989. How cold was it? Duran’s wife, Felicidad, finally had enough of the shivers and left for the casino around the ninth round when the temperature was said to be about 39 degrees on a cold “Sin City” night.
HALL OF FAMER CHARGIN THINKS COTTO’S HEART WILL BE A DETRIMENT
While chatting earlier this week with Don “The Boy Promoter” Chargin, a licensed promoter since 1951, Don put forth his outlook on Cotto-Mayweather. “Personally, I think Floyd is too fast for him, especially with his feet. But Cotto has a huge heart and lots of guts, which means he’s going to try and bring it to Floyd. That in my mind will get him busted up faster than if wasn’t being the aggressor. Look, it’s a good fight, both guys are talented and coming to win, I just think that the speed factor, the fact that Floyd has such an edge there that this will be Cotto’s undoing.”
Can Shane Moshey Handle Canelo’s Heat?
WHAT ABOUT SAUL ALVAREZ-SHANE MOSLEY?
Everybody that doesn’t know Don Chargin thinks he’s as cool as a “chilled” cucumber, when in reality the opposite is true. I’ve seen him bite his nails, walk back and forth like a caged lion, even sweat a little bit when his guy is about to fight. Hell, Don used to get nervous at his club shows at places like the Radisson Hotel in Sacramento, as his late-wife Lorraine Chargin took charge. When he’s got something on the line, Don’s got the shortest, if not only one-word responses, somewhat reminiscent of Evander Holyfield in the early days say prior to 1989.
CHARGIN SEES THE FIGHT GOING TWO WAYS!
If Mosley Goes Down, Can Or Will He Get Up?
Although Don is pretty confident that Saul Alvarez will win Saturday against Mosley, the “Boy Promoter” says Shane has the ability to make Canelo look bad if he brings his stink game to the ring. You know, like against Manny Pacquiao and even Floyd Mayweather, if Shane thinks he’s got no chance after a few minutes, he’ll revert to the “stink the joint out” mode and thus will look only to survive and not get hurt. On paper, Alvarez should munch on Mosley as if were a buying a burrito from a roadside Taco truck. But again, if Mosley decides to fight as he did against Manny Pacquiao, then he could make Saul look bad.
WHAT ABOUT THE ODDS & PREDICTIONS YOU ASK?
I will have my Odds & Predictions for the weekend fights up on Thursday night for Friday morning.
Pedro Fernandez