Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Mayorga Summary 03/12/10

Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Mayorga, when i first heard this fight was happening, i thought to myself its going to be a slug fest but there is no way Mayorga can win this fight.  Both like to come forward, both like to throw power shots.  Though Cotto has recently started to use his boxing skills a lot more in his latest fights, against Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Yuri Foreman, Joshua Clottey, showing he has the ability to outbox his opponents, having a very good jab.  Cotto's aggression has slowed down in his recent fights but still has ability to push foward and land his vicious body head combinations.  Cotto has been exposed in fights that he is very susceptible with shots down the middle of his guard, uppercuts and straights, Cotto with limited head movement and more blocking than dodging in his defensive arsenal.

Ricardo Mayorga, a very aggressive fighter that has a very dangerous looping right hand that can come anytime, him being off balance will not stop him from trying to knock you out with a right hand.  He is dangerous but as a boxing technician he has a lot of room to improve.  But his aggression and his ability to overwhelm is opponents has got him where he is today.

The fight was a good fight, with back and forth action, but Miguel Cotto with his sharper and shorter punches, he seems to get the better of every exchange.  Throughout the fight Mayorga's chin is way up in the air getting caught with multiple left hooks that Cotto throws viciously after most of his combinations.  Mayorga has some success coming forward and using his aggression but not frequent or often enough.  Most of his shots are winging shots and are blocked by Miguel, but is entertaining for the crowd to see.  With Cotto's footwork and constant circling to his left Mayorga is always left 1 or 2 steps behind showing the crowd Mayorga's footwork needs help.  Mayorga throughout the fight shakes his head and shows the crowd he isnt hurt, until the last left hook of the night brought to you by Miguel Cotto.  An exchange in the 12th with both mens' hands flying, Miguel Cotto once again finishes his combination with a big left hook upstairs catching Mayorga.  Mayorga gets up but has to quit moments after.

A couple things surprised me in this fight.  Mayorga catches Cotto with a wild combination at the end of round 4 while Cotto was in a semi defensive shell and Cotto actually smiles.  Now this is not uncommon in boxing, a lot of fighters do this, but Miguel Cotto NEVER does this.  I have seen many fights with Cotto and him showing any bit of emotion is surprising enough.
Another thing is that Mayorga withstood the pace.  Though you can see Mayorga slow down during the end of the right i expected him to get a lot gassed near the end then he did.  Maybe it was because Miguel wasn't pushing the pace I expected, using his jab and boxing skills more than his aggression.

Mayorga Quit!!!  Mayorga was blaming his left hand which I don't see where he ever hurts his hand.  The way he took his hand out of the glove doesn't resemble a real painful broken hand or thumb.  This immediate "pain" supposedly happen right after he gets caught with Cotto's big left hook that pretty much ended the night and he never even lands a left hand in that exchange.  So that sudden "pain" in his left hand must of came from Cotto left hook to the head which is surprising because in all my years of watching boxing i have never seen someone hand get broken from getting hit in the head.  Now what i thing happen was is that his pride was hurt from getting hurt.  He was showing the crowd the whole night for 12 rounds that Cotto has never hurt him. that he was more willing to brawl than Cotto, and when Cotto really hurts him, he doesn't want to show it and uses his hand as a scapegoat to go down in the 12th.  That is just my opinion.