Juan G. (Orlando, FL): Miguel Cotto looked very good against Ricardo Mayorga. Do you think he can still be a world class fighter and get beyond the ghost of Margarito, which started his career nosedive?
Vivek W. (ESB): Short answer to your question about him being a world class fighter…..absolutely! I think Cotto can still compete with a great percentage of the population out there in the sport. That being said, although I think he can still be a “world class” fighter, I’d be lying if I said I thought he could one day be viewed on the mythical level of P4P supremacy. It’s a bit conflicting, but to narrow it down, my opinion is that Cotto can still beat most of the competition out there, but I don’t think he is quite on that level where I’d say he’s ready to compete with those on that highest echelon.
Styles make fights, and while I don’t think he ever defeats the Pacquiao’s or Mayweather’s of the world, I think stylistically, there are men who are not on that level who he could probably never defeat, either. When I watched him against Mayorga, a few things stood out to me. The main thing was the fact that his punching power at ’54 simply isn’t what it was at ’47, or ’40. It’s a double-edged sword because he KO’d a good amount of his competition at those weights, but he was also less sturdy, particularly at 140, being depleted from having to make weight.
Now he’s fighting at a weight that better suits him, but that power level simply didn’t translate. Trinidad and Oscar KO’d a prime Mayorga. Cotto landed his best shots and I don’t think it’s far-fetched to say that he never really buzzed a 38y/o Mayorga who’s been out of the ring for 2yrs. That says a lot. And what said even more to me was watching Cotto during the few spots when Mayorga got aggressive. Mayorga doesn’t have half the work rate of a Margarito, but when he was in deadly pursuit, he landed at will on Cotto, and actually buzzed him a few times, once to the mid-section, and once (maybe twice) with head shots.
That tells me the Margarito fight still represents a level he will probably never achieve. Pacquiao has been an ‘iron man’, and even he was buzzed by a version of Margarito that we know contained no illegal handwraps. Pacquiao was able to keep Margarito at a distance because of his workrate and subsequent power. Cotto fights at a more measured pace and simply won’t play defensive all night. So I could conceivably see him building a similar lead early, and being walked down late the same way in the rematch. Emanuel Steward will help, but when the spotlights are on, the crowd gets loud, and the plot thickens…..I’m just not sure Cotto will have the discipline to stay the course in the heat of the battle. Very eager to find out, however! Stay tuned.
Jose N. (Deerfield Beach, FL): I watched Sergio Martinez in his impressive victory Saturday night and as much as I love Manny Pacquiao, I really think Martinez has the best claim to being the best fighter in the sport today. He gets better every fight, there are no catchweights and shenanigans, and there are no questions surrounding his conditioning and performances. Don’t you think that gives him the edge between the two?
Vivek W. (ESB): In all honesty, I think it’s totally unfair to base your theory on the stipulations you chose to use. Yes, Martinez has looked very impressive every step of the way, but you can’t bring forth arguments like there being “no questions surrounding his conditioning and his performances”, because he was never asked to take a randomized drug test, so we don’t know if he’d refuse. What would he say if asked to take a randomized drug test? We simply don’t know. The fact that Pacquiao refused for reasons only known by he and God doesn’t mean that he’s the ONLY one who should come under question.
I wouldn’t insinuate that Martinez is taking anything, and had Pacquiao not refused the test, (for whatever reason), me and others would not have questions about him. Bottomline is that both these men are game fighters who put it all on the line every single time they step in the ring. I’ll concede the fact that, as you accurately pointed out, Martinez has not done the catchweight thing, and he’s exceeded all levels of expectation against men in their natural habitat, but when you pick long enough you can find reasons to speculate anywhere.
Similar to the rhetorical question I posed earlier about how Martinez would respond to a randomized testing request, ask yourself would Martinez consider a catchweight if he had to scale the ladder by climbing 8 weight divisions? We simply don’t know. So, again, I think you have to strip away the residue of typical fight game politics and see this for what it is. Has Martinez been as impressive as Pacquiao? On some levels, but he hasn’t done it against the same level of opposition for as long. You have to respect the longevity involved.
Similar to Emanuel Steward, I don’t really see the historical stuff as Pacquiao’s best work. His best work to me was what he did in the super-featherweight ranks against future bona-fide Hall of Famer’s who were in their prime. This stuff now days is just the cherry on top. The longevity involved would keep Pacquiao a notch above, in my mind; but that isn’t to say Martinez isn’t impressive. I think what Martinez has done and his willingness to face anyone without any special stipulations certainly gives him an inside track, but to say he’s a clear cut better fighter in the sport? I’m afraid I can’t say that just yet. I’d like to see him face the Cotto/Margarito winner, and a reinvigorated James Kirkland in the future wouldn’t hurt, either. Guess we’ll have to see what happens next.
Travis B. (Washington, DC): The more I think about the Pacquiao/Mosley fight, the more I think this could be the fight of the year. I think both men give up a lot in this fight and it’s not as easy to predict as the odds make it. What would be more shocking to you: Seeing Mosley stop Pacquiao? Or Pacquiao stop Mosley?
Vivek W. (ESB): I think the biggest shocker I could see happening in this fight would be a KO of either man! I’ve seen Mosley take some of the biggest punches a fighter can take, withstanding power shots from the likes of Oscar, Forrest (RIP), Cotto, Margarito, Vargas, and so forth. Forrest was able to knock him down, but stopping him within the distance is just something I can’t quite mentally process. Flip side to that, I can’t lie……seeing Pacquiao get buzzed by 126lb fighters, and suddenly stand toe-to-toe with pure punchers with KO power responsible for stopping men who walk around at 170+ is a bit startling, making me see him getting KO’d as a major shocker, too!
In a sense, it would be more shocking to see Pacquiao stop Mosley, but in light of this new ‘iron’ Pacquiao, I think you have to concede that as odd as it seems, it may be more shocking to see Mosley actually stop him! The contradiction here is that many Pacquiao fans will say, “well, Pacquiao is more durable now because he’s fighting at his normal weight, and not having to weight drain himself like he did years in the past”. The only thing I see wrong with that theory is that if this is more of a “normal weight” like those supporters say, wouldn’t that render his need for catchweights and all this “small fighter” talk officially dead?
So, you can’t have it both ways. We’ve been sold on the notion that Pacquiao is so much “smaller” than other fighters, therefore the catchweights should be “OK”; but in all actuality, like Nazim Richardson once pointed out, Tyson was also considered “small”, but that didn’t make him any less of a pure heavyweight. Pacquiao is “small”, but is clearly big enough to contend with these men, which leads some to steal points from his recent accomplishments, yet at the same time force you to commend him because he’s doing things no other men has, like breaking Margarito’s orbital bone, or knocking a 150lb+ Miguel Cotto down early in a fight.
It’s all mind-boggling! But to answer your question, I don’t think you can narrow it down. I think either man being KO’d would qualify as a huge shocker! The closer we get to this fight though, the more I’ve conditioned my mind to see such a thing happen. I just think when you have two power punchers like this that get up for the big moments, there’s no way they disappoint. One of these two men will finally see what it feels like to fall and not be able to get up, come May 7th! I can totally see Mosley landing something monstrous to the body and following up with a show-stopper to the head! I could also see Pacquiao getting a TKO of Mosley from continued shots, too. Hard to say, but I sure as hell can’t wait to find out! This fight will be nothin’ short of fire!
(Vivek Wallace can be reached at vivexemail@yahoo.com, 954-292-7346, Youtube (VIVEK1251), Twitter (VIVEKWALLACE747), Skype (VITO-BOXING), and Facebook).