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Cotto remains WBO welterweight champ (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
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Miguel Cotto retained his WBO welterweight belt and improved to 34 wins and 1 loss in a tough and hotly contested fight with Ghana native Joshua Clottey, who dropped to 35 - 3.
Manny Pacquiao, visibly seated at ringside with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum and wife Jinkee, watched with eyeful intent at his next possible opponent. A bout with Miguel Cotto would represent a bona fide mega event between two fighters with highly loyal fan bases, and if it takes place at 147 lbs., has boxing's current #1 pound for pound fighter pursuing a 7th title in a 7th different weight division. Such a feat would be unprecedented in boxing history.
Early knockdown
Thousands of Puerto Rican fans showed up at the Madison Square Garden in New York to cheer Cotto in light of the Puerto Rican Day festivities occuring over the weekend at the Big Apple. They had early reason to cheer loudly. Cotto was consistently the more powerful puncher throughout the fight, as expected, and dropped Clottey in the 1st round with a snap left jab that landed square on the chin.
Accidental headbutt
In the third round, Clottey's forehead clashed hard with Cotto's left eyebrow and blood poured down the Puerto Rican's face, and would continue to do so until the 12th round. The cut was bad enough to split Cotto's left eyebrow and would continue to bother the welterweight fighter. Clottey, with a high guard defense, took immediate advantage with fast jabs and hooks, concentrating his focus on Cotto's left face, and to make matters worse, the Puerto Rican could not effectively see, anticipate, or block Clottey's superior right hand. Cotto worked to create space and move away from Clottey and won rounds by trapping Clottey in the corner or the ropes to dish out more powerful punches that evidently scored points with the judges and which inspired the crowd. "The cut made me fight harder," said Cotto after the fight. Surprisingly, Clottey decreased his work rate after the 10th round and fought safely, possibly thinking that he was ahead on the scorecards. Cotto increased his volume of powerful punches that likely placed his efforts over the hump late in the fight.
Scores
Referee Don Trella scored the fight 116-111 and John McKaie 115-112, both for Cotto, while Tom Miller had it 114-113 for Clottey. These scores probably showed a wider margin than what many observers assessed, as Clottey's repeated right hand shots to Cotto continued to bother the Puerto Rican throughout the fight. Cotto barely emerged victorious on HBO's Harold Lederman's unofficial scorecard.
Immediately after the bout, Joshua Clottey - in protest of the judges' decision - called for an immediate rematch. "They robbed me," said Clottey. A rematch is unlikely to occur. A highly loaded welterweight division sees fighters such as Andre Berto and Shane Mosley as the other belt holders, and Antonio Margarito is eyeing a comeback from his suspension within a few months. More significantly for the Puerto Rican star, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Juan Manuel Marquez - who both fight each other on July 18th - and possibly Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines are prospective opponents. As Cotto expressed, he is looking forward to some rest and relaxation after nine weeks of grueling training.
Copyright 2009. Marv Dumon. May not be redistributed or re-published without author's prior written consent.
___________________________
Blog: mdumon.blogspot.com
Marv Dumon has been an avid boxing analyst and observer for over 20 years, and he is also the National Business and Finance Examiner. He conveys experience in both investment banking and management consulting, and has published over 40 business-related articles for Forbes. Marv received his BA, BBA, and MPA from The University of Texas at Austin. Contact him at marvin.dumon@gmail.com.
Comments
cotto looked pretty vulnerable in there. he may be a good fighter but im not sure if he's an elite fighter
clottye should have won that fight. he didnt throw as many punches as he should have and thats why he lost. hes off the radar now
im waiting for mang resty to post his spam, he must be eating lunch right now, jajaja
spam spam spam
no need of rematch. i won the fight! go cotto!
i want to see okabayashi win hotdog chomping contest
lucky men. calderon, will cook and eat ur dog
Poor performance of Miguel Cotto. He can't crushed Pacquiao. Definetly it will be a mismatch if they fight each other.
cotto looked like cotton candy out there, pacman will eat the delicious cotton candy treat and collect an easy $15 million paycheck.
cotto just survived a bad day in boxing..
The way cotto fight would likely be manny's advantage... cotto look slow and can be hurt... it seems my dream of cotto-pacquiao will finally come true.. Go Manny... Go for the 7th title on 7th Division... this will surely a fight of a gentleman outside but a warrior inside the ring.
see yah at www.pacfans-corner.com
yeah! me too. waiting for Mang Resty spam-plug!!!.. hahahaha
mang resty is resting right now. please let me advertise for him.. please visit facpans-comer.com.
i hope i got the right spelling of the best boxing website. i'm just doing this for mang resty and his avid pans. who knows, we might have a chance to write boxing article in his site.
i'm trying to practice my spelling and writing skills for my future job at facpans-comer.com. thanks for reading my comments in behalf of the best boxing website in the universe.
You pac fans are pathetic! You guys are to blind to see anything logical in the sport. Cotto fights the best competition everytime whereas manny fights washed up or weight drained fighters. The only prime fighter he has beat is JMM and that is very questionable. I can't wait for Pac to get KO'd so the Pinoy freaks will just ride into the sunset.
Damn dog, why you gotta be racist for?
oh.. i forgot. it should have www. this is the correct site: www.facpans-comer.com
...created for the boxing pans by mang resty.
Pac Hater, you would be waiting for your dreams to happen until you ride into the sunset of your life. ;)
if pac beats cotto, people will just say that pac beat an overrated fighter in cotto and will point to the clottey fight as evidence that cotto is overrated
hey d*ck face pac hater. I believe ur the one who's illogical. pacman is just that great to make fights look very easy...
Kiss my *ss.....
i love this article
please come visit www.pacpacfanspacpac.com its the best pac fan site in the world jajaja
"You pac fans are pathetic! You guys are to blind to see anything logical in the sport. Cotto fights the best competition everytime whereas manny fights washed up or weight drained fighters. The only prime fighter he has beat is JMM and that is very questionable. I can't wait for Pac to get KO'd so the Pinoy freaks will just ride into the sunset."
dood, manny is retiring so u wont see that. fart face
You Pac Hater, you are an ass hole!!!... you forgot how the Pacman destroyed the undefeated 140 pounder Ricky Hatton. Man.. you are an idiot you commented like an idiot. how about the Pacman fights between the 3 sure hall of famer Mexicans???.. Morales, Barrera and Marquez.. Man.. when Manny fight Marquez the 2nd time at 130lbs.. he was clearly dehydrated...
TO PAC HATERS HATTON IS ALSO DRAINED? ULOL!
manny beat ricky fatton but he was a dumb fighter
he beat old DLH, old barrera, declining morales, he lost most of 24 rounds with marquez.
just stating facts, not opinion but facts.
and no one knows diaz, larios, solis, these are leftover garbage, the kind that gets thrown to the dog for the dog to eat but the dog doesnt even want to eat it
how u like my name
fac fan and pac pac hater,
you' re dumb and dumber2 in the making...you both use your stupid ass more often than ur brain...just you both be carefull in wallking on streets..dogs will surely bite the both of you...fck u both!
kon mahinayon man ang pacman ug koto sayon ra kaayong patumbahon ni pacman si kotto kay pirmi man open ang iyang tiyan sigurado dyud ko nga di mulapas sa 6rnds ni si kotto batok ni pacmn
Anybody can say champions beat only old, overrated, nobody boxers. No fighter is consistently beating prime opponents, not JMM or Cotto.
JMM lost to chris john, lol, let's not forget that
talawan si kotto ..maigo to sa bunal ni pakyaw lukapa man jud ba suka jud og litson..gamay ra na samad sige n og dagan bayot jud
Pac Hater says:
You pac fans are pathetic! You guys are to blind to see anything logical in the sport. Cotto fights the best competition everytime whereas manny fights washed up or weight drained fighters. The only prime fighter he has beat is JMM and that is very questionable. I can't wait for Pac to get KO'd so the Pinoy freaks will just ride into the sunset.
June 14, 1:31 AM
---- you will wait forever because pacman will never be knocked out again.. dream on man.. dream on.. its free anyway
Cooto is lucky to survive to be a candidate for his biggest payday in his life...and to all Pachaters u can say wat eber u wanna say wat i can say is ur sucks and losers U moron
u can go to hell now ha ha ha
On the contrary, the split-decision win makes the Pacquio-Cotto prospect take a step down south. Another one, Cotto is obviously too big for Pacquiao and the P Rican has expressed no intention to go less than 147. More, Cotto is very much still in awe over Pacquiao's grandstanding May2 destruction of Hatton that he has yet to shake off the shock before issuing a challenge to the P4P king. Well...?
its only after pacman beats his opponents that they look washed up, weight drained and old.. cotto is a good match up for the pac but i'd like to see pbf and pacman give it a go.. i dont know who would end up victorious but it would be one of the best..
To Pacpac hater, curse all you want and degrade Manny all you can but the fact remains. Manny is champion of 6 weight divisions and the only boxer with 4 lineal championshp plus he was BWWA 2 time Boxer of the Year. He is one of 100 Time Magazine Most Influential people and the only Filipino and boxer in Forbes 100 celebrities. What? Can you say the same with your fave boxer whoever he is?
The fight was too messy. Joshua Clottey deserves what he says that he was "robbed".I don't think the fight was fair.Damn you ass hole Miguel Cotto!.
Y'all stupid! Just by readig your name and not your comments I can say y'all dumb filipino's.
Cotto with the kind of performance that we've seen against Clottey--he will surely eat gloves from Manny thus he didn't pose any challenge to Pacquaio.Thanks to all the visitors at our site www.pacfans-corner.com
Hey suckas!
Ru new in town? Can't handle it?
Keep ur cool man and just enjoy the ride. nya ha ha ha!!!
www.pacfans-corner.com
will be unveiling it's new version 4 of the site on july and aspiring writers,amteur and pro writers are invited to join the pfc writer's guild ot get a chance to have a pfc writer's id and a certificate ofr writing at least 10 articles on the site..
www.pacfans-corner.com
ultimate tambayan site for pinoys worldwide!!!
I won't be surprised to see an 80-20 revenue split in favor of Manny if he fights Cotto next.
Nothing to expect more excitement from Cotto,
This is it,after the fight he would rather take a big rest after 9 weeks of preparation and the split decision end result.Margaritos work is still in there,he can't shake it off.
No bravado from a winner just want to take a rest.
to all pac haters, dont be jealous of what pacs achieved now, just keep on smiling and be thankful to god that we have a true champion that can gave us a true happiness despite of what happen now globally.... peaceeeeeee bro.
to all stupid, idiotic and fact denying pacman haters...
WAKE UP AND ACCEPT THE TRUTH THAT PACMAN IS THE NUMBER 1 BOXER IN THE ENTIRE...
He's always moving forward...
Not like cotto who uses bicicle inside the ring...
hahahaha
In any weight division that cotto wants to fight with manny pacquiao, cotto will never win.. Pacman is the best fighter of he world, that's is why he is the Best pound por pound fighter, the number 1 boxer in the world.
Cotto's fight is not that impressive, although he is strong but slow he won't win against Pacquiao.
Based of Cotto's performanced against Clottey shows that Pacquiao can defeat Cotto.
Sorry but the truth...cotto really lost the fight, cotto ate must of the gloves and tearing down...clottey is not a famous or good fighter but show skills a lot, but his attitude being a champion does not fit in the eye of fans and the judge, cotto has the attitude...but if you rate the fight clottey should win....just to be fair...rematch not so interested, the fight not so exciting.. mybe Manny and Cotto will be....Cotto rules..
If the fight happens Pacquiao/Cotto i can put my bit to Pacquiao and a 65/35 split of the purse in favor of Pacquiao is the highest Cotto i believe he deserve.
cotto is a lazy carabaw
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