12 Rounds of Thoughts -- Cotto vs. Martinez

My initial thoughts on Miguel Cotto’s dominating victory over Sergio Martinez, winning the middleweight championship and becoming the first Puerto Rican fighter to win titles in four different weight divisions:

 

Courtesy of espn.com 

Round 1 – Bob Arum…. being stubborn about undercards is hurting your product. 

Round 2 – The purpose of undercards are to build excitement towards the main event, showcase young future talent or lead up to a future fight with a participant in the main event… tonite accomplished none of that. 

Round 3 – Thank you Andy Lee for rescuing this undercard from a complete abomination.  

Round 4 – I came into this fight thinking Martinez would be too big and too strong for Cotto… boy was I 100% wrong.

Round 5 – My stance on the fight was that Martinez would be too tough to hit and would get his pound of flesh early, and making Cotto constantly reset… not giving him a legit chance to land significant punches.  Once again, I was 100% wrong.  I will eat crow and love it. 

Round 6 – It was evident in the first round that Cotto was much stronger than anyone expected… including Sergio. 

Round 7 – If anyone can honestly say that Martinez was 100% healthy… even 80% healthy… is lying thru their teeth.. No excuses for Martinez, but his knees were nowhere close to capable of competing in this fight. 

Round 8 – No legs mean no movement… and no power… which means no chance for Martinez to win. It's time for Maravilla to retire... he's had a very good career... just short of greatness. 

Round 9 – Now to Miguel… incredible performance.  He never lost composure when he had Martinez hurt and boxed beautifully.

Round 10 – Cotto did a tremendous job of not allowing Martinez to counter him.  He won every exchange and was committed to work the body.  A+ performance!

Round 11 – I said before the fight that this fight was about legacy… and Cotto solidified his legacy with this victory.  It’s by far the biggest win of his career.  In my opinion he’s a definite Hall of Fame fighter with one of the best resumes in the history of the sport.  Congratulations Miguel on being the first Puerto Rican fighter to win titles in four different weight divisions!

Round 12 – In my mind… there’s no doubt that a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Miguel Cotto rematch is inevitable.  Too many reasons for this fight to happen… Floyd’s confident he can win… and a victory would help solidify his legacy by adding a middleweight title to his arsenal… From a personal standpoint, I’d love to see that fight. Miguel looks like a rejuvenated fighter under Freddie Roach and think it would be even closer than the first fight. Why not!