It seems there’s a big argument over Miguel Cotto’s win over Yuri Foreman which took place June 5 at the Yankee Stadium. Personally I was going against Cotto, but at the end Cotto won and I am willing to move forward.
But in Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports mailbag last week it seems everyone sees it differently starting with Kevin him self.
“Cotto did what he had to do, Case. My take, though, is that Cotto got hit far too often and failed to punch in combination during the early stages. He was breathing with his mouth open by the fourth round. Foreman isn’t a hard puncher, but Cotto would have had big problems had he been getting hit that often by someone who could punch. It was a step in the right direction for Cotto coming off the loss to Manny Pacquiao, but it was by no means a masterpiece, in my opinion”
Here are some of Kevin’s questions and answers.
Cotto didn’t deserve shot
Cotto fighting for the WBA super welterweight title after getting thrashed in his last fight is a joke. Paul Williams deserved the title fight much more than Cotto did. It’s just a farce that this stuff happens! Now I’m hearing crazy stuff that Cotto may defend against Margarito or Pacquiao next. If he fights Pacquiao next, will there be another weight stipulation like the first time they fought? How could anyone see a rematch going any differently than their first fight?
Paul Jordan
I’m all for guys earning their title shots, but I think Cotto had done enough to earn his. Foreman wasn’t in a mandatory title defense situation, and Lord only knows there are far too many of those. Most of the mandatories wind up being duds. But Cotto had enough big wins in his career, in my opinion, to make him deserving of this opportunity.
Unworthy of comment
Come on, Kevin! Give Cotto some credit. It was obvious from the opening bell that Foreman is a B-plus fighter and Miguel is an elite fighter. Foreman was on his toes boxing and was being outboxed by a better technical fighter in Cotto. Cotto was cutting off the ring and dominating him with a far superior jab. It was going to be an easy night for Cotto regardless if Foreman’s knee gave out or not. Also, I thought Roy Jones Jr. added some much needed credibility to the HBO commentary crew. I am annoyed by announcers and writers that have never climbed into the ring, yet they try to tell the public what is really happening in there. Roy let everyone know what was really going on and how a fighter really thinks.
Jeremy
Los Angeles
Jeremy, I am annoyed by people who think one has to have performed an activity to write about it. Given that stance, the only person(s) qualified to cover the White House are former presidents. In your scenario, the White House press corps would consist of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter. And by the way, how do you know that I, or any of the announcers or writers that you disparage, have never climbed into the ring before?
No props for Cotto?
I don’t think you’ve given Cotto enough credit for his victory over Yuri Foreman Saturday night. From your comments over the last year or so, it seems pretty clear that you think Cotto is basically done. His performance against Foreman (though marred by the knee injury) was definitely a step in the right direction in showing he’s still got something left in the tank. I was pretty impressed with his movement and footwork throughout the fight and he really controlled the action through most of it. I was curious to see if Miguel would look like he was still “carrying the fire” and on Saturday, to me, it seemed he did. What do you think would have been the outcome without the injury? I respect your knowledge of the sport and look forward to your reply.
Mike Caliari
Riverside, Calif.
As I said before, I have much respect for Cotto and what he has accomplished, but I thought that given Foreman’s style and the beatings Cotto had taken from the likes of Pacquiao, Margarito and Joshua Clottey that he wouldn’t be the same. He had more left than I thought, and probably would have won the fight had Foreman not been injured, but I still question whether he could have beaten a more elite opponent.
You could read Kevin Iole complete mail bag here.
There was nothing impressive in Cotto’s performance against Yuri. He was just lucky that Yuri was injured, not by Cotto’s performance, but by Yuri’s own defective legs. Had Cotto fought Pacquiao instead of Yuri on that fateful night, he could have been KOed by Pacquiao right on round 1 or 2. Some people are just lucky… like Cotto.
I’ve insisted all along that Cotto stay at 147 lbs. I still think that.
I thought Cotto did well in a good comeback fight against a formidable opponent. Yuri may not hit hard, but there was more then a reasonable chance that he was going to outbox Cotto in 12. Turned out Cotto was outboxing him. I agree with the writer though, Cotto got hit flush and clean too often, had that been a fighter with power it would have been a different story. That fight didn’t do much to convince many that Cotto is back. The impressive things Cotto did in that fight aren’t enough to outweigh the fact that he was hit too often.
I said it, this win wasn’t that impresive….
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