Cotto Accepted Defeat


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Cotto Accepted Defeat

By Dimitrios Verteouris, Doghouse Boxing (Aug 4, 2008) DoghouseBoxing (Photo © German Villasenor)

On July 26, 2008, we all witnessed a great fight between two warriors. Why people can’t just simply be happy with the outcome is just ridiculous. All of our favorite fighters must lose at some point. In any professional sport, a team or an individual always tastes defeat at least once. So why since Cotto was dethroned Saturday night, does it shock people so bad they don’t even want to believe it?

Miguel Cotto had a fine training camp, he made weight on the first try, he was doing well for the first 5 or 6 rounds with the pace of the fight. All went well up to that point. He simply could not hold the pace for 12 rounds. He was never able to fight with that pace ever in his career. Why people thought he was this boxer who was fast on his feet and can keep a pace up for 12 rounds using speed all night is beyond belief. Cotto has showed that as a young fighter his first style of fighting was stalking his opponents and breaking them down. Yes, he has developed as a boxer lately, but how do people think that since he has learned to fight with a different strategy that he can keep it up for a whole fight? It’s not second nature to Cotto. His style that you have known him for is what he does best. Boxing the way that Floyd Mayweather, Pernell Whitaker and Sugar Ray Leonard did in their times is what they did first. Brawling is something they would do if they had to. Cotto only fought Margarito this way cause he had to. If he was able to win doing what he does best, he would’ve done it. But he tried to pull something off that he just couldn’t pull off. I give Cotto credit for trying to outbox Margarito to a decision, but the pace was going to catch up to him. He wasn’t going to be able to keep throwing hard punches of his back foot and get out the way. That’s not the type of fighter he is. Yes, if he had to he could and it would work against some or most fighters, it just couldn’t work against Margarito. There is no shame in the loss for Cotto cause he went down in a great fight .

As for Cotto taking knees and just giving up the fight in the 11th when he was clearly done, I don’t blame the guy. You have to think about what goes on in his head, not just yours. He has a family at home, four kids to feed and spend the rest of his life with. Maybe he said to himself, “I am a beaten man tonight and I don’t want to risk getting any serious injuries and let me just call it a night.” Yes, many men will say he punked out, I agree when it comes to speaking about people who took beatings and withstood them to either get knocked out or reach the final bell. But when you speak of someone who thinks of his family instead of just himself (the way Cotto probably did) then I don’t disagree with his decision.