09.06.07 – By Izyaslav “Slava” Koza: Though at this point many people are giving Miguel Cotto tremendous props for his beatdown of Zab Judah, I don’t really understand what the big deal is. For once I am confident enough to brag and point to the nature of my pre-fight analysis which clearly stated and explain why this was exactly what everybody could expect. Of course nothing I, or any other writer says, means much if the two fighters don’t put out, however, Miguel Cotto has rarely disappointed, and in a weird way neither has Zab Judah which is why predicting on this fight was safe bet..
Zab Judah, contrary to popular belief, does not have anything in his arsenal as a fighter. His speed is good but the fact is he doesn’t have enough stamina to fire those shots more then once every 2,3 rounds if that at all.
Once he hurts a good fighter early, if that fighter stays composed he will simply get on the inside of the follow-up wild swinging. After that it’s all a matter of imposing whatever gameplan you brought and watching your opponent crumble and get beaten up.
Knowing Mayweather’s a Spink’s styles I didn’t much expect them to stop Judah inside the distance, but knowing Cotto’s style I very well did. The only wrench in the works was the terrible cut Miguel suffered on his lip which could have very well cost him a TKO stoppage if blood was dripping into his mouth and thereby throat. Other then that Cotto won 9 of the 10 completed rounds and did stop Judah inside the distance in exactly the fashion I thought he would.
With all the self-congratulatory crap out of the way, I would now like ask, “what exactly is next for Miguel?” To me, as mentioned, the guy was a top 5 p4p fighter before this fight so a win over a guy like that doesn’t do much for my personal views on him. The greater public might be more impressed and in that sense that will help with the bigger mega fights he surely deserved before this bout, but in the boxing sense nothing has changed. The HBO crew is trying to spin this as the toughest fight of Cotto’s career when they forget that the fight with Torres was ultimately way more brutal and vicious and much more a war then this one. The only difference in this bout was the cuts Cotto had to deal with but other then that it was all in a day’s work.
Personally I would love to now see a fight between Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather Jr. This is in my mind the biggest p4p vs p4p fight that can be made in boxing today. For Mayweather of course holding the top spot and drawing big money with a guy he has less of a chance against is much easier which is why he should be more reluctant to such a showdown. However, knowing those facts is precisely why “Pretty Boy” should get more props for signing on the bottomline. For Miguel, if the Mayweather fight is not there he should continue going on a tear and not letting up by fighting easy opponents. As mentioned numerous times before since Cotto does have the following, promotion, and money he has the opportunity to do whatever he wants with his career. If he feels like it he could very well fight a string of bums and claim something off that, but with the nature of his fighting style I feel now is the best chance to strike at a bout with Mayweather.
As much and as good a fighter as Cotto is, the facts are he has to get hit in order to win against better guys and the older he gets the worse and more frequently it will happen. If he waits too long for a mega-fight. he will make more money but in my mind will have less of a chance to win due to his ware. If Miguel can he should bend over backwards and take whatever he can in terms of purse just to get a Mayweather or a Mosley in the ring. The reason is because his best chance to win such a fight is here and now.
At present though respect to Miguel Cotto on the win. He is the type of fighter guys like me love to write about precisely because, like a Floyd and like a Jones before him, he does not disappoint.