Cotto escapes Clottey; runs his way to a possible Pacquiao mega-fight
Miguel Cotto sneaked, or should I say ran his way into a technical decision win over Joshua Clottey last night to retain his WBO welterweight belt at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. Cotto won by a slim margin as judges scored the fight 116-111,115-112 for Cotto, while Tom Miller had it 114-113 for Clottey giving Cotto the split decision victory.
Cotto knocked Clottey down in the first round with a short left to the delight of the predominantly Puerto Rican crowd. Clottey was quickly able to get back up on his feet as the bell sounded.
In the third round, Cotto suffered a cut on his left eye after an inadvertent head butt. Clottey took advantage of the cut somewhat as he tagged it causing blood to drip, compromising Cotto’s vision.
In the fifth round, Cotto showed that he might have a future in mixed martial arts as he seemingly tackled and threw Clottey judo-style towards the turnbuckle. Clottey was given a few minutes to get up and recover but he apparently hurt his left knee in the scuffle.
Cotto said after the fight,“The cut made the fight more difficult but I could always see,” Cotto said. “I had to box more late in the fight with all the stuff coming out of my eye. I had to keep on fighting. Keep on fighting.”
And fought he did. You got to give the man credit for staying in a fight and putting forth a much better performance compared to the last time he was placed in a similar predicament against Antonio Margarito. Cotto picked his spots while protecting his left eye, throwing timely flurries and controlling the fight with his defense and footwork whenever Clottey decided to engage.
Clottey wasn’t a happy camper however when he heard the results. Clottey stated after the fight, “I didn’t expect this decision. I won this fight. I want a rematch!” As much as I can empathize with Clottey, I’m afraid he did not do enough either to score a victory over the once-beaten defending champion Miguel Cotto who had the crowd pulling for him all night long. The knockdown in the first round proved to be a key in setting the tone for Cotto early in the fight.
Manny Pacquiao was ringside after receiving his BWAA Fighter of the Year award the night before, enjoying the fireworks and possibly scouting his next opponent as well. Pacquiao received a nice ovation from the crowd when he was introduced through the PA system attributing to the vast popularity the Pacman now enjoys as the face of the sport.
Was Cotto’s gutsy performance enough for him to land a mega-fight with Pacquiao? My take on it is yes and no. Cotto does deserve a Pacquaio fight, but if I was a member of Team Pacquiao, I’d be concerned with the running style Cotto implemented towards the later part of his fight against Clottey. Pacquiao prefers to fight boxers who come straight forward and something tells me that if Cotto decided to counter punch with Pacquiao, that he might just have enough power and skill to frustrate the Pacman. The edge would definitely still be with Pacquiao in my book.
With that said though, as a fight fan, I’d rather Pacquiao fight Mayweather if Cotto will only choose to “run around” or “run away” when he fights Pacquiao, but Cotto would probably be a more competitive and exciting fight for Pacquiao if he does engage. Mayweather Jr. is a superb defensive fighter himself and often runs around his opponents as well but I don’t think he has the same offensive power as Miguel Cotto on top of the fact that he’s been away from the sport for quite some time. At the end of the day, the edge Pacquiao has against Mayweather and Cotto is his heart so a fight with either one of them should definitely be Pacquiao's priority.
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