EVERYBODY knows too much sugar in one?s diet is bad. But don?t tell that to Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto (30-0, 25 KOs.) Today, Sugar Shane Mosley (44-4, 37 KOs) will attempt to feed him a steady fare of jabs, crosses and hooks in their WBA welterweight championship bout.
Shane is pegged as the slight underdog but (surprise, surprise!) the Last Round is once again taking on the cudgels for the lowly downtrodden pugs of the boxing world.
Sure, he?s older, and he?s been beaten twice by both Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright.
But Cotto doesn?t have his number. At least, not yet. Or maybe his manager does. Whatever. It doesn?t matter. I?m picking Mosley. The report cards came out early, so let?s take a peek.
COMPETITION FACED. Cotto B+, Mosley A. Miguel Cotto is young and undefeated. But he hasn?t faced anybody of Shane?s caliber. The best name on his resume is Zab Judah who was a terrific boxer, but never had Shane?s mental fortitude.
Cotto also had good performances against Paul Malignaggi, Carlos Quintana and Demarcus Corley. But they just don?t stack up to Wright, Forrest, dela Hoya and Fernando Vargas.
BOXING ABILITY. Mosley A, Cotto A. A few years ago, Shane was on top of the pound-for-pound list. He was undefeated and thought to be nearly unbeatable by some experts (I didn?t). But his losses exposed his weaknesses which I will discuss hereunder. Nonetheless, he remains to be a terrific boxer and ring tactician.
Cotto is a better boxer than people give him credit for. Sure he has serious power, but that?s not all he relies on. He likes to break down his opponents and find their weaknesses during the course of the fight. He?s a thinking fighter and that?s his best asset. During the Judah fight, after Judah found a home for his sneaky left uppercut, he switched seamlessly to southpaw for defensive purposes and it worked perfectly. Not too many boxers have that talent.
SPEED. Mosley A, Cotto B+. Despite being the older man, Sugar Shane is the speedier guy. Cotto is a tad slower and this will be his handicap.
POWER. Mosley A-, Cotto A. Most experts have billed this to be a battle of speed vs. power. Not necessarily so. Cotto might be the stronger of the two, but not by much. Mosley has fought at 154 pounds before, while Cotto is coming up from 140 pounds, and so Mosley knows how it feels like to bang with the big boys.
DEFENSE. Mosley B, Cotto B. This is where Mosley is overrated. He used to be a terrific lightweight who bounced off his feet and moved his head. But he inexplicably turned puncher when he moved up in weight. Dela Hoya and Wright found him all night long with their jabs and straights. Cotto?s defense consists of an aggressive offense. He likes to attack to keep his opponents on the defensive end to keep them untracked.
CHIN. Mosley A, Cotto B-. Mosley has only been down once (against Forrest) and that was preceded by a head butt. In contrast, Cotto was given the count against Ricardo Torres and was noticeably hurt a couple of times by Judah?s uppercuts.
EXPECT THE FIGHT TO BE. A war. This is a guaranteed fight of the year candidate. Both guys are busy fighters who like to bang to the body, so this will be action-packed all the way. Both fighters will try to establish their jabs in the first few rounds. But, Mosley?s speed will be the big difference. He will eventually find a home for his right hands and stop a game, battered Cotto in the 10th.
IDOL. Watch for ABS CBN?s boxing reality show ?Idol? which premieres today at 10 a.m. It?s a professional grassroots boxing competition for Visayas and Mindanao with the full backing of ALA boxing gym which conducted the auditions and houses the boxers.
Who knows, you might be watching the next Pacquiao, Pe?alosa, Donaire or Nietes.
LAST ROUND. It?s on my batch mate Marcelino Co who recently celebrated his birthday. Masi is a proud dad to Matthew Raymon and Monty Maximilian and an adoring hubby to gorgeous wife Mimi Maureen.
Cheers!
