John, Just read your opinion on the chances of Miguel Cotto versus Floyd Mayweather. Well written, but very one-sided. In my opinion, one also has to look at the other side of the coin. In Mayweather, we see an undefeated fighter who has recently not fought very much, and there seems to be some evidence that he’s not quite as elusive as he used to be. Against Shane Mosley two years ago, Mayweather was almost dropped in the second round by two telegraphed punches. Luckily that was all that Mosley could throw in the that fight because he just can’t throw many punches now a days, as we witnessed in his fights versus Ricardo Mayorga, Sergio Mora and Manny Pacquiao. Before that, Mayweather fought a fat Juan Manuel Marquez who’s only strategy to gain weight was to eat like a pig and drink piss. And despite being young and hungry, Victor Ortiz is lacking in experience and brains apparently. But even he managed to be very competitive and seemed to be in the fight until he quit again and decided to give up by putting his hands down and letting Mayweather ko him. So basically I feel Miguel Cotto has a good chance. While he hasn’t beat murderers row at jr middleweight, he has gotten over the Pacquiao defeat and seems to have found a solid trainer as opposed to the family friend with no training experience that was training him for the Pacquiao fight. Most people believe trainers make a big difference in a boxers success, and I would be one of those believers. Cotto will be more prepared for Mayweather than he was for Pacquiao and this could pay off with a victory. And if Cotto can keep that jab pumping he should be able to control how much Mayweather jumps in with his pot shot strategy. A shot Oscar De La Hoya was able to control their fight with his jab, and if not for his strange gameplan of getting inside and throwing soft, shoe shine punches, he probably could have had that split decision go his way. Mayweather is not unbeatable. He’s slowing down, and just like in the case of Roy Jones Jr. – Antonio Tarver 2, he might have lost just enough elusiveness to be a hair too slow and get caught with a nasty left hook.– Carlos Ruiz
John’s response: Hey Carlos. I?ll just make this short and sweet. Contrary to popular belief, Floyd Mayweather has a great chin. Those shots that he took against Mosley would?ve knocked out most welterweights. Cotto has showed great boxing skill at 154, but he hasn?t shown tremendous power. He has had three stoppage wins based on his opponent acquiring damage slowly over the course of their fights. None of those stoppages were based on one punch. Cotto doesn?t hit hard enough at 154 to knock Floyd out. I know many may disagree with me but Cotto?s only shot to win is to keep a stiff jab in Mayweather?s face, attack his body like there is no tomorrow, and lean on him all night. I just don?t see Cotto doing that. He has lost his killer instincts and he looks like he would rather box these days than engage. Expect the fight to be competitive for about three rounds, after that Mayweather will adapt, figure Cotto out and it will be very one sided after that.
Is bob arum still sticking by his statement he made a year ago, that wilfredo vasquez jr would knock nonito donaire out? I notice he has been unusually quiet on this fight with the media. Also since andre berto will be out until at least july, where does victor ortiz go from here? i think his promoter, golden boy, could have gotten a replacement. Guys like shawn porter, brad solomon, joel julio or joan guzman could have been suitable. in some fights that i really would like to see, who do you pick to win Amir Khan vs Robert Guerrero, khan vs shane Mosley @147, Ortiz vs Mosley, Khan vs Ortiz @145, Julio Cesar Chavez jr vs Antonio Margarito @ 160, Chavez vs kelly Pavlik @166, Sergio Martinez vs Erislandy Lara @ 157, Jorge Linares vs Guerrero@ 135. –leviticus
John’s response: Well the fight happened and Wilfredo Vazquez not only failed to knock Nonito Donaire out, he lost the fight. Vazquez Jr was doing some good work in the middle to late rounds but was a bit too defensive minded in the opening rounds to the point where he was barely throwing any punches. Vazquez Jr won three, four rounds tops. It?s horrible that one of those judges, RUBEN GARCIA saw the fight going his way he scored it a corrupt 115-112 for Vazquez, and since Vazquez was knocked down, that means he scored at least eight rounds for Vazquez]. That judge should immediately be summoned to the TSAC?s offices and be asked to explain round-by-round on why he scored the fight the way he did. I believe GBP is looking into possibly putting Amir Khan in with Victor Ortiz (if Lamont Peterson fails to take the $1.5 million for the Khan rematch). They can also be looking into putting Victor in with the winner of Marcos Maidana-Devon Alexander fight later this month. Ortiz, Khan, Maidana, and Alexander are all promoted by GBP so it would be easy to make any of those combinations of fights a reality. Here are my picks of those fights: Khan over Guerrerro Khan over Mosley Mosley over Ortiz Khan over Ortiz Chavez Jr over Margarito Chavez Jr over Pavlik Martinez over Lara Guerrerro over Linares
What do you think the chances of Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fighting in November? Also, now that Andre Berto bitched out what’s next for him or Victor Ortiz? Editor’s note: Berto didn’t “bitch out”, he tore a bicep. How many boxing matches have you participated in with a torn bicep? Ortiz would’ve KO’d his ass, and had his brother screaming in the corner again looking like a damn fool. Berto is scared.
John’s response: Thanks for the kind words. I think the chances of seeing Mayweather-Pacquiao in November are very slim. Floyd Mayweather has been fighting once a year since 2009. He?s been showing the pattern of: one year he will fight on Mexican Independence Day weekend in September than he?ll fight on Cinco de Mayo weekend the following year, and he has repeated that pattern in his last few trips to the ring. I sincerely doubt we will see Mayweather-Pacquiao happening in November. Don?t even expect Floyd to fight in November. He doesn?t care what the fans want, he cares about his pockets. I am sure he?ll be making a nice chunk of change to fight Cotto before he goes to jail June 1st.Therefore, he should be satisfied monetarily until May 2013 or September 2013… Ortiz can fight Khan or the winner of Maidana-Alexander. I don?t think Berto was scared. He was legitimately injured. As far as the Berto-Ortiz fight, I was leaning more towards Berto for the rematch despite how well Ortiz did in their first fight. I recall seeing Andre Berto fight live as a prospect on the Vernon Forrest-Ike Quartey undercard at the Theater in Madison Square Garden in August 2006. A lot of people had high hopes for him and expected much more from him than what he has given us. Andre has had trouble when it comes to A level fighters. If you really think about it, he hasn?t really fought any. His best win may be his April 2010 TKO win over a shot Carlos Quintana. Nevertheless, Berto seems to epitomize boxing prospects failing to live up to their hype. If Berto heals up and is able to get into the ring with Ortiz, it will be the crossroads of his career. If he loses, I don?t see much in his future. If he wins convincingly he may still have a chance to live up to that hype that surrounded him in 2006-2007.
good call last wk on Mayweather-Cotto fight happening. How many more fights do you see money mayweather fighting in? I think a lot more.. He can fight well into his 40’s sorta like bernard hopkins. He could fight Manny (mayb a trilogy?), an Ortiz rematch, Berto, Amir khan, and Canelo. What do u think? Alfonse from MIA
John’s response: Thanks Alfonse. I see Mayweather fighting for another year or so. Although similar to Hopkins due to the fact that Mayweather hasn?t taken much punishment throughout his 20?s and 30?s, Floyd is an entirely different fighter than Bernard. Floyd relies on reflexes for his defensive and offensive supremacy in the ring. Floyd is at that age where your reflexes naturally start to slow, and it will be interesting to see how he reacts to it. In his past few fights, Floyd has been flat footed and has walked his opponents down. I don?t think we will see Floyd get old in the ring on May 5th but that virtuoso style of his wont last until his 40?s. On top of that, Floyd has very few fights left that are rational. Floyd should fight Pacquiao and Martinez after Cotto and call it a career. He could beat all three of them and retire undefeated. I am sure a Mayweather-Khan and Mayweather-Canelo fight would sell well, but I just don?t see them happening.
floyd mayweather is good but not superman. you are talking like Miguel Cotto is a bum or a punk.Let see if u men fight like he fought Shanel Mosley. My opinion 4 some reason is that manny paquiao can beat Cotto at 147 but Mayweather at 154 with Cotto, we have 2 see. u say Cotto selection at 154 is not the best, but Floyd at154? One fight. And in my opinion was a very close fight. Oscar De la Hoya was down the hill.Take care my friend.
John’s response: You are correct. Floyd?s performance against Oscar De La Hoya wasn?t the greatest or most memorable performance of his career. The points I made in regards to Cotto?s opponent selection at 154 was to back up the fact that Miguel is a small junior middleweight. He does well at 154 when he is allowed to be the boxer. All three of his opponents were much slower than him at junior middleweight. When Cotto fights Mayweather he will not be the boxer. He is going to need to pressure Mayweather, which he hasn?t done since the Zab Judah fight in 2007. Floyd will walk Miguel down. Cotto is a great fighter and has tremendous skill. His non-stop pressure, body punching style of 2005-early 2007 would?ve been more conducive to a plan to beat Mayweather. This boxing style that Cotto has recently acquired may do well against Yuri Foreman or Antonio Margarito but it won?t bring him success against Mayweather.
How would a possible Lamont Peterson-Amir Khan rematch play out? I think Peterson would pull it off again. He has a nasty overhand right that was rocking Khan all night and I think he won the first fight clearly. Also I know you have talked very negatively bout Julio Chavez jr in the past but what did you think about his performance last Saturday against Marco Antonio Rubio?– Tomas
John?s response: Tomas, thank you for the support. I appreciate it greatly. I think Khan beat Peterson clearly in their first fight despite the point deductions. In a rematch, I?d expect Khan to win. As far as Chavez Jr., I?d hate to say it but I was impressed Saturday night. I was picking Rubio to knock him out, but Chavez Jr. showed heart and some skill in the ringSaturday night. I used to think that a Chavez Jr.-Martinez fight would be a quick knockout, but I am slowly seeing it play out differently. It would be a close fight. Julio seems to be getting better with time and I am interested to see where his career goes.
I’M EXCITED ABOUT ALL THE FIGHTS AT 154 POUNDS NOW. I HEARD SAUL “CANELO” ALVAREZ IS FIGHTING ON FLOYD MAYWEATHER’S UNDERCARD.WHO DO YOU THINK HE’LL FIGHT? I HOPE IT’S JAMES KIRKLAND, THAT WOULD BE AN AMAZIN CARD. WHO U GOT FOR THESE FIGHTS AT 154: CANELO-KIRKLAND, KIRKLAND-MARGARITO, CANELO-MAYWEATHER, LARA-KIRKLAND, LARA-CANELO, BUNDRAGE-CANELO?– BERNY D.C. Editor’s note: please lay off the caps
John’s response: Hey Benny. From what I am hearing it will be Canelo-Mosley on the Mayweather-Cotto undercard. That is not official yet, but that is what I am hearing. As far as those fights here are my picks:
Kirkland over Canelo Kirkland over Margarito Mayweather over Canelo Lara over Kirkland Lara over Canelo Canelo over K9 Bundrage
