"Cotto is over hyped, he's a good B class fighter, but he's with a great promoter in Bob Arum."
Thank you James Toney. This is what I've been saying all along. Compared to the fighter he's reputed to be, the real Miguel Cotto is a shit boxer! What has he done? Who has he beat??! He KO'd a past-his-prime Zab Judah in a fight where he himself almost got KTFO'd twice. He had an undeserved decision against Clottey and an undeserved decision against Mosley, who was coming off very sluggish performances against Mayorga and Collazo. Certainly not the same mosley who fought Margarito. And then he got KTFO'd by Maggie.
The only prime top 10 welter he's legitimately bested was Quintana.
Everything points to the fact that Cotto was handpicked for maximum reward with minimum risk. Of the top 5 welters, Cotto has the weakest chin (by a landslide) and has no one-punch knock out power. These 2 things combined virtually negate the size advantage. That's why 9 out of 10 commentators are predicting an easy win for Pac.
But this is par for the course ever since Pac got the pound-for-pound title. The last time he took on a risky opponenent was in the 2nd Marquez fight. Since then, it's been all low-risk fights. The only possible exception was the De La Hoya fight, where most people thought De La Hoya would win. That has to be placed within the context of the fact that Roach had recently trained De La Hoya and knew that he could no longer pull the trigger. He probably also knew De La Hoya couldn't make 147 and be healthy. On top of that, a loos whould have had no effect on Manny's legacy, so he wasn't putting anything on the line.
I love how, before and after every fight, Freddie outlines in plain language how they selected their opponent to minimize risk to Manny. Just listen to him talk about why they chose Cotto. It's like the elephant in the room yet no one acknoledges it.
Not saying Manny's not a warrior, but when you look at how his fight selection is talked about versus a guy like Mayweather, the double standard is overwhelming!
If Manny wants to show me something (or any of the people who still think Mayweather is the true P4P king) he should fight a guy with slickness, speed, and a chin. If he steps in with a guy like Mosley, or even Bradley, I'll give him props. Until such time, he's just showing he knows how to maximize profit.
