Is Cotto Damaged Goods?

The question on whether or not Miguel Cotto is damaged goods or not has been echoed throughout many boxing talks lately. You pick up the latest Ring Magazine and Cotto's bloody face is on the cover with the look of a beaten fighter there for the taking. You go to the message boards and the writings are all there, everyone seems to think that Cotto is a damaged fighter.

In Cotto's next fight he will take on the quickest deadliest storm of them all, Manny Pacquiao. No doubt about it that going into this fight, Cotto has way too many negatives on his side. We have that nasty gash that must stay closed but we all know that Pac-Man will be right there to jab at it, we have the wear and tear from all his tough battles, I mean outside the ring Cotto is younger than Pacquiao but inside the ring Cotto is the much older fighter, and the biggest negative of them all is the fact that Cotto will be going into a war with a trainer that is way too green for a fight of this magnitude.

You can bet that Pacquiao is going to be looking to take fully advantage of the three negatives mentioned. Now do those three negatives mean that Cotto is expired? In my opinion, I say NO. If Cotto was damaged goods like they say he is then this fight would be taking place at 147 and not 145. I also feel that Cotto is a way better fighter now than he was when he fought Judah. Cotto to me is alot more well rounded now.

Anytime that a banger can add some boxing skills to his weaponry, sky's the limit. I will say that all Cotto needs to be a real force is to be able to learn to punch on the go. When Cotto boxed Margarito, early on Cotto was blasting him from every angle. Cotto's fault was not going to the body to slow down the Terminator. The reason for that was because in order for Cotto to go to the body he would have to have planted his feet right to be able to dig in. If Cotto would have been taught to punch on the go it wouldn't have been a problem.

That skill on being able to punch on the go can be taught, now is Joe Santiago the right man to teach him this important skill? Only time will tell, but to me the answer is NO. The importance of having an experience trainer in Cotto's corner in a fight this big is a huge reason and come to think about it the only reason why I am having trouble picking Cotto in this fight. Some say Pacquiao's speed is enough reason alone to pick the Pac-Man over Cotto, I disagree. Cotto has dealt with speed before when he faced Judah and Mosley, Cotto was able to time them and came out on top, so though the speed will be helpfull to have, it sure will not be the main reason for victory.

So when you see images of that bloody beaten faced fighter on the cover, be sure to remind yourself that the nasty cut was there since the 3rd round and even though the fighter was fighting the Margarito demons in his head, the fighter still hung on to take the victory over a very game Clottey. Also remind yourself that Pacquiao had that same beaten up look on his face after his first battle with Morales and his battles with Marquez, now how dumb would we feel had we then labeled Pacquiao a damaged fighter?

Do not judge a book by it's cover, it's what's on the inside that matters most, the question should not be if it's damaged, it should be what does he have left? If the instructions coming from Cotto's corner seem puzzled at times, Maybe just maybe the fire inside Miguel Cotto may be enough to push him to his biggest victory and put to rest this damaged goods question.

Source: http://www.diamondboxing.com/newsstory.php?list=8859