Too "Sweet"
This Saturday night in New York City Miguel Cotto (30-0 25KO) will put both his undefeated record and WBA welterweight title on the line when he faces future 1st ballot hall of fame great "Sugar" Shane Mosley (44-4 37KO). In Mosley you have the most complete fighter Cotto has ever faced, there is nothing Mosley cannot do in the ring. Although Miguel`s fight last June against the always-dangerous Zab "Super" Judah was one of the years most exciting fights, it was basically a systematic destruction by Cotto. As Cotto has shown in his fights against slick southpaw vet Demarcus "Chop Chop" Corley and hard hitting (at the time) unknown Colombian (future champ) Ricardo Torres, Miguel`s will, determination, & recuperating ability are a big part of what sets him apart from the rest.



Up to the point where he faced Corley, Miguel Cotto had won almost every round as a professional fighter. He was badly hurt during the 3rd round of the Corley fight, but Miguel weathered the storm and came back to TKO Corley. Maybe the battle with "Chop-Chop" was the best thing that happened to Miguel as 2 fights later he found himself in a life and death struggle against the heavy handed slugger Torres in one of 2005`s FOY. After dropping "Michuelo" in the 1st rd Miguel was staggered and dropped in the 2nd round, only to hurt Torres later in the round. Cotto scored another KD in the 4th, than Ricardo came back to stagger Miguel in the 5th. Cotto then scored a KD in each of the next 2 rounds and the ref stopped the fight as Torres was unsteady and on wobbled from the final knockdown.

Fighting at junior welterweight there were rumors that Miguel was having major problems making weight and was considering moving up to welter weight, but not before facing the arrogant loud talker (another future champ) Paulie "Magic Man" Malignaggi. Malginaggi, a super speedy defensive minded fighter, lasted all 12 rounds in a courageous effort, but was left almost disfigured w/ facial injuries that required surgery as Cotto's deadly aim was on display that night. Even after that performance Cotto felt he was weakened by having to make the 140-pound junior welterweight limit and decided to move up 7 pounds to the welterweight division.

Cotto first faced undefeated countryman Carlos Quintana who was fresh off a dominating victory against formerly undefeated prospect Joel Julio (32-1 30KO) and proceeded to really hurt him throughout the fight knocking him down a couple of times in route to a loss as did Quintana did not want to continue fighting after the 5th round as Miguel left him a bruised and bloody mess.

In Mosley you have the best fighter Cotto has ever faced. With Mosley`s experience, height, reach, and speed advantage it will take Cotto's full bag of tricks to get this victory. Mosley has 2 wins against a prime DLH and 2 wins over a washed up Vargas. But Mosley also has 2 losses against Vernon Forrest and 2 losses against Winky Wright both of whom were bigger men w/ good jabs although neither was faster than Shane. Miguel Cotto is a natural southpaw but fights Orthodox. Cotto brings a unique switch-hitting style that features a deadly body attack; he might be boxings best switch hitter. He counters his opponent's movement by changing his stance to get better accuracy. There is a point in every Cotto fight I've seen where he goes into that gear and just wears his opponent out with the pressure, body attack, and accurate power punching. He has a jab that goes under the radar because of his powerful hooks. Cotto's advantage of strength, youth, hunger, accuracy, and body attack are more than enough to counter act Mosley`s advantages. If Miguel finds his range with the jab and gets to the body early, he will not only beat Shane, but he would be the first to beat him by KO, and simply put a win over sugar, especially via knock out...is simply too sweet.

My prediction: Cotto via 8-12 rd KO
Carlos "Ceelow" Pena










Mosley's Not Too Old Yet
On November 10th boxing has two of the best current welterweight contenders as Shane Mosley (44-4, 37 KO?s) goes up against a rising whirlwind in Miguel Cotto who has yet to taste defeat. Shane has had a tough road to climb after consecutive losses to Winky Wright. Shane has changed trainers, moved up to Jr middleweight and back down to 147 in his last 5 fights.



Shane's journey in the ring has been a variety of question marks on where he's been mentally with many observers claiming his career was over or was coming to an end but Shane has overcame most odds at his advanced age of 36. He rebounded quickly against David Estrada, a limited but very tough fighter at 147. Then Shane defeated an undefeated fighter at the time in Jose Luis Cruz. Most people in boxing thought little of Shane's comeback victories or considered them no more than his last days in the ring...then came Fernando Vargas a fighter who most fans would consider shot and at the end of his career.

Many people assumed both fighters were at there final stages and looking for a payday but surprisingly the first fight was extremely competitive and Shane eventually got the win via stoppage due to extreme swelling over Vargas' left eye. Then came the rematch and Shane comes in and looks leaps and bounds ahead of where he was in the first fight; he's on his toes finding opportunities with hooks and right hands and then dramatically ended the fight with one left hook dead center on Vargas' chin, a punch that Fernando never saw coming and put him out.

In his next fight Shane dropped back to 147 to fight Luis Collazo a legit top 10 contender at the time and Shane looked just as impressive as he did against Vargas. Shane was on his toes forcing his younger opponent to be defensive, fight at a high pace and lay back whenever Shane flurried or came forward with body and headshots. Over Shane's last 5 fights we have seen a complete turnaround of a great fighter, improving when most fighters appear to lose steam and that is what Cotto is going to have to deal with: a motivated Shane Mosley who has confidence and is willing to use whatever he has to in order to win.

Shane's key to winning this fight is his feet and legs. If Shane keeps using angles while Cotto comes forward he can catch a susceptible Cotto underneath his guard or over the top with a short right hand, generally punches Cotto has gotten caught and stunned with. Although Cotto is very good at what he does, Shane has far more options at his disposal than Cotto. Shane can afford to lead with jabs, flurry in spots and end with hooks to the body as long as he's not too stationary. Shane's movement against Vargas and Collazo are reminiscent of his days when he first came up and made waves by beating Oscar de la Hoya. Shane may be a step behind speed wise but he's still one of the best combination punchers of this era in close quarters.

Very rarely has Shane been hurt coming forward unless there was a jab in his face and a clear separation of distance where he had to reach. If you can't disrupt Shane's rhythm early in the fights with a jab Shane imposes his will on you with his strength. Cotto is a bull but Shane's no slouch either and people underestimate that in this fight. Shane has fought bigger fighters while Cotto for most of his career has had the luxury of being the stronger man. However one fight of his stands out to me in why he can get frustrated by a moving target and some resistance: when Cotto fought Oktay Urkal in his backyard Cotto hit him hard and often but Urkal came back and the frustration showed on Cotto's face, especially as the fight went longer and his opponent wasn't backing down. Urkal lost but Cotto, even with his professional workmanship looked very frustrated at the end of the night against a hungry opponent that wouldn't submit to Cotto's power and aggression.

Cotto won't take Shane lightly but Shane is always prepared to go to war and always finds enough holes in aggressive fighters to make them pay for every attempt at closing the distance. I believe when Shane uses the ring and finds consistent targets to the head and body his accumulation will pay off over the course of rounds.

My pick is Shane Mosley by late stoppage or majority decision.
Gotiye

Article By: Carlos Pena/Gotiye/Jeff Cox