Wayne McCullough says that Sugar Shane Mosley can't afford to lose to Miguel Cotto.
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Miguel Cotto will make the third defence of his WBA belt this weekend against former three-weight champion, Sugar Shane Mosley in New York. This fight will be at welterweight, where both guys could arguably be at their most comfortable.
Mosley began his career in 1993 as a lightweight and Cotto turned pro in 2001 as a junior welterweight. He just recently moved up to welter after holding onto the light welterweight WBO belt for a couple of years and six defences.
At 5' 7", Cotto is a stocky guy now more comfortable in the higher weight class where it is less of a struggle to get inside the limit. Last December he defeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA welterweight championship.
Although Mosley originally fought at a higher weight he is, to me, the bigger and stronger of the two. He moved from lightweight - where he held the IBF belt defending it eight times - up to welter, dominating Oscar de la Hoya in their first fight to win a belt and then moved up again to defeat de la Hoya again at light-middleweight winning another belt.
In between the de la Hoya fights, Mosley fought several times including suffering back-to-back losses to Vernon Forrest and following the de la Hoya rematch, back-to-back losses to Ronald "Winky" Wright. But those are the only four losses on Mosley's superb career.
Undefeated
Cotto has yet to taste defeat although he has come back from being hurt badly in a fight to win. Cotto was out on his feet during his fight with Demarcus Corley in February 2005 but came back to win by KO.
Then in September 2005, Cotto was knocked down for the first time in his career by Ricardo Torres but again he came back to win by KO. He has shown that although he can go down or get hurt he has always found a way to win.
Mosley has also hit the deck in his career. He was down twice in the second round during the first fight with Forrest. Even though he got back up, he went on to lose the fight.
But I still think that between the two, Mosley has the better chin.
They each like to work combinations to the body but Cotto's left hooks are more precise than Mosley's.
Cotto is only 27 years old whereas Mosley is 36 and possibly coming to the end of his career. But he has looked sharp in his last five fights so nothing would surprise me.
Experience is the key but both fighters have lots of it. Mosley has more in the pro ring with a solid amateur background. Cotto was a 2000 Olympian and a highly-decorated amateur fighter.
Mosley's speed could be the factor. As Cotto comes in close, Sugar could use his fast hands to hit his opponent and his feet to move away scoring points.
Cotto likes to work in close. His left jab is solid and when he gets close his double left hook to the body and head can be devastating. If he gets close and Mosley stays there, the fight will suit him.
This bout comes down to who has the best gameplan. They are evenly matched in almost every way. With the fight in New York, Cotto will have three-quarters of the fans from the massive Puerto Rican fan base.
To me this is a toss-up fight with the only difference being that Cotto is younger. He can afford to lose and come back whereas Mosley can't afford to lose at this point in his career.
I'm expecting a great fight that shouldn't be missed. The winner of this fight could even go on to fight the winner of the upcoming bout between
Ricky Hatton and Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
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Wayne answers your questions...
Hi Wayne, I watched the Barrera versus Pacquiao and the De la Hoya versus Mayweather fights and don't understand the margin of victory by the respective winners of both fights. Does the American system mean that the counter puncher fights at a disadvantage? In the Mayweather v De la Hoya fight I thought that Oscar hit the most meaningful punches but this did not reflect in the scoring. Barrera seemed to hit very solidly against Manny but lost by a street according to two judges. Does quantity count more than quality? Kind Regards, John Swallow, Arundel, West Sussex
WAYNE REPLIES: John, the scores were a bit lopsided in these fights. At least they got the right winners in the end. The system should be the same around the world. America doesn't have different rules but sometimes I wonder what the judges are watching.
Hi Wayne, just wondering if you could provide me with a little bit of info on Edwin Valero. I understand he is unable to fight in the US due to injury but he has knocked out every man he has fought; surely a match-up against the Pacman is on the cards? Darren Geoghegan, Burnley
WAYNE REPLIES: Darren, I just met Valero a few weeks ago here in Vegas. Pacquiao will probably fight Juan Manuel Marquez next and the winner may get a fight with Valero. A fight with Pacquiao would be explosive!
