Trout Out-Boxed Cotto Better Than Mayweather Did

Published

11 years ago

December 3, 2012

Lee Wylie

Saturday night, in what was one of the biggest upsets of 2012, Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto {37-4 with 30 Kos} tasted defeat at Madison Square Garden for the first time in his boxing career after being out slicked and outpointed by unbeaten American Austin Trout {26-0 with 14 Kos}.

To say Miguel Cotto lost this fight because he grew old overnight would be criminal. Austin Trout defeated Miguel Cotto because of strategy and technique. Let me ask– was there any mention of physical decline regarding Miguel Cotto prior to the fight? As a matter of fact, most of the talk heading in was that the untested Austin Trout may indeed be in well over his head, so much so that many were already contemplating and plotting Miguel Cotto’s next opponent.

To blame Cotto’s defeat on anything other than a superb show of boxing skill really does take away from a masterful display by Austin Trout. For that reason, I’m going to highlight some of the techniques that Austin Trout performed brilliantly in defeating Miguel Cotto.

While I thought Austin Trout won this fight based on a superior set of skills and a better game plan, his physical attributes must be addressed.

Miguel Cotto vs Austin Trout

Notice the difference in height between Austin Trout and Miguel Cotto. It’s not often you see a height differential like this outside of watching the Klitschko brothers feast on smaller heavyweights.

At 5’10’’ and with a 73’’ reach, Austin Trout was at a huge physical advantage over Miguel Cotto, who at 5’ 7’’ with only a 67’’ reach, was always going to have to try and get inside on his larger opponent. It mustn’t be forgotten that not too long ago, Miguel Cotto was competing at 140 pounds. Cotto has moved into the junior middleweight division with age. During his physical prime, he was either a natural junior welterweight or a natural welterweight. On the other hand, Austin Trout is a natural junior middleweight, with wide shoulders and a wide back, who’s fought in the division all his life. Because he’s still only 27 years-old, it’s not inconceivable to think that he could one day fight as a middleweight. Add to this the fact that Cotto fights small –hunched over on his lead foot- then he really was up against it physically. However, Trout’s size would have counted for nothing if he didn’t know how to put it to good use.

Left hand to the stomach

Right from the opening bell, Austin Trout began working behind his southpaw jab, as well as throwing a straight left hand into the pit of Miguel Cotto’s stomach. First, Trout would be on his back foot, looking to maintain the distance using his jab. As Cotto came forward looking to get inside, Trout would first occupy him with either a feint or a right hand, before dropping low and firing his straight left hand.

Miguel Cotto vs Austin Trout

Cotto is standing flat footed inside his usual high guard. Notice how Trout first occupies Cotto with his right jab before dropping low and landing his straight left hand between Cotto’s elbows. It was never Trout’s intention to land his right jab, only to take the eye away from the real attack.

Again, Cotto is standing in his usual high guard. Trout throws his right jab up top to first occupy Cotto, before dropping low and landing his straight left hand.

Here’s Cotto in his high guard again. Trout taps Cotto’s gloves with a right jab to keep Cotto’s guard high and tight. With Cotto still peeking out behind his high gloves, Trout drops low and fires another left hand into Cotto’s stomach. This time, Trout has changed the arc of the shot. Instead of it coming in straight, he swept it around. Trout continued to make little adjustments to his offense throughout the fight.

Here’s one last look at that left hand to the stomach

Cotto contiuned to peek out from behind a very high guard, and Trout continued to take advantage. Again, Trout dropped low and swept his left hand between Cotto’s elbows and deep into his stomach.

The importance of Trout’s left hand to the stomach cannot be over stressed. For me, this was the key to Trout’s success. The straight left hand to Cotto’s body did two things.

It wore Cotto down and sapped his stamina. Cotto seemed to fade towards the final stretch. Trout’s left hand to the stomach was the reason why.
Because Trout set an early attack pattern of going low, once he began to bring his attack back upstairs, Cotto wasn’t ready for it. This is something Floyd Mayweather does extremely well. Although they may not be aware of it, an opponent will usually make slight adjustments to their stance or guard in order to compensate for a low body attack. Once they do, it makes it easier to for an opponent to land an attack back up top and more difficult for the recipient of the attack to read it

The uppercut

As the fight progressed and Cotto began to slow down some, Trout started to throw well-timed uppercuts through Cotto’s guard.

Miguel Cotto vs Austin Trout

Trout used the same method of attack as before. First, Trout occupied Cotto with a right jab, before threading his left uppercut through the center. Cotto’s high guard leaves him vulnerable to uppercuts. This tactical adjustment was an astute observation from Trout.

Here’s another variation of Trout’s uppercut. Cotto’s in his high guard. This time, Trout occupies Cotto with a lead left hand. Just as Trout’s left hand is extended, he comes back with a right uppercut/shovel hook {the angle is slightly different, but what’s important is that it’s still coming from underneath} before dropping his left hook into Cotto’s stomach. At this stage in the fight, Trout’s attack variety was outstanding.

This next sequence captures Austin Trout’s punch variation perfectly.

Here, Trout lands a left uppercut before bringing the same arm back and landing a left hook. Mike Tyson was famous for landing the hook to the body followed by an uppercut through the center, but this is an even tougher combination to pull off. Sure, Cotto’s high guard gives him more time, but this type of attack still requires a lot of hand speed and precision.

Although Trout began to land with some pretty unconventional combinations {on display above} the technique involved in the simple things he did was also noteworthy.

Screen shot 2012-12-03 at 12.18.07 PM

Notice Trout’s left glove as he’s threading his jab through Cotto’s high guard. If Cotto tries to counter with a right hand, Trout’s left glove is in position to block it. Also, notice how Trout is moving to his right to gain an outside angle for his straight left hand. As both men release their shots at the same time, Trout’s straight left hand finds the target whereas Cotto’s left jab sails wide.

Defense

It wasn’t just offensively where Austin Trout shone Saturday night. He also did an excellent job on defense. Miguel Cotto is a converted southpaw in that his power hand is actually his left hand but he chooses to lead with it out of an orthodox stance. Therefore, Cotto’s primary offensive weapon is his left hand and in particular, his left hook the head and body. For the most part, Austin Trout did a terrific job of eliminating Cotto’s left hook threat.

Miguel Cotto vs Austin Trout

Here, Trout is on his back foot while Cotto is looking to close the distance and land his left hook. As Cotto throws his left, Trout catches him on the way in with a right hook before reversing his direction and retreating. This tactic was a favorite of another slick southpaw, Pernell Whitaker.

Screen shot 2012-12-03 at 12.20.45 PM

Here, Trout uses his right hand to gauge the distance between himself and Cotto. As Cotto tries to land a left hook, Trout simply takes a step back and allows Cotto’s left hook to fall short. Cotto was well out of range, but because Trout was touching him, he felt that Trout was hittable. This is a tactic often used by Wladimir Klitschko.

As I mentioned earlier, Cotto is a converted southpaw. Because his lead hand is his power hand, he seldom uses his non dominant hand -his right- and if he does, he’s not all that effective with it. As almost anyone with an incline of boxing knowledge will tell you, the best weapon against the southpaw is the straight right hand. This hurt Cotto a lot Saturday night.

Screen shot 2012-12-03 at 12.21.58 PM

This is an excellent sequence highlighting a few things. First, notice Cotto’s body shape as he’s firing the jab. He’s standing upright and his head is central. By contrast, Trout is dipping low and has taken his head away from the center line and to the outside of Cotto’s jab. As Trout lands his straight left and Cotto’s jab misses the target, take a look at what Trout does next. He rolls under and out to the right of Cotto. This is a stroke of tactical genius against a converted southpaw. Usually, a southpaw will move to his right, away from an orthodox fighter’s right hand. Here, Trout is moving to his left, away from Cotto’s power left. Throughout the fight, Trout spent a lot of time moving to his left to avoid Cotto’s left hand.

In this sequence, Trout is occupying Cotto with his right hand before gaining a dominant angle yet again for his straight left hand. As Cotto is throwing his jab, Trout manages to get his lead foot on the outside of Cotto’s lead foot and fires a straight left hand. Because Trout has the outside position, his straight left lands whereas Cotto’s jab missed the target. After connecting, Trout rolls under and out towards Cotto’s right. Even though Cotto throws a right hand as Trout is rolling under, Trout knows that there’s less danger present by exiting towards Cotto’s right instead of his left. Manny Pacquiao also had a lot of success against Cotto by employing this tactic.

All in all, I thought this was a remarkable display from Austin Trout. Sure, Miguel Cotto had his moments, namely when he landed a left hook that seemed to wobble Trout momentarily and also there were a few occasions during the fight when he managed to pin Trout up on the ropes and get in a few good shots, but for me, this was Austin Trout’s night. Even when Trout was up on the ropes, he did a good job of rolling and slipping Cotto’s shots.

From where I was looking, the biggest problem Cotto was faced with was he needs to set himself and plant his feet in order to let his shots go. Yes, Cotto does plenty of bouncing around between punches, but he struggles to let his hands go unless his opponent is either pinned up on the ropes or is right in front of him. Most of the time, Cotto’s weight is over on his front foot. Because of this, should a fighter move off quickly, Cotto struggles to get off.

Needless to say, because Trout was always backing up and moving side to side, Cotto found it tough to get set, and in turn, get off. When Cotto did manage to close the distance and was just about to throw, Trout would either feint him into covering up or occupy him with the jab before landing some shots of his own, or he would simply move off to a different angle. Either way, Trout prevented Cotto from landing with any regularity.

Miguel Cotto has been beaten before. But I’ve never seen him out slicked like this. Not even Floyd Mayweather managed to out box Miguel Cotto the way Austin Trout did Saturday night. And that’s saying something.

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Lee Wylie

Canelo Alvarez Turns Away Jaime Munguia to Remain Undisputed King at 168

Published

9 hours ago

May 4, 2024

David A. Avila

Canelo-Alvarez-Turns-Away-Jaime-Munguia-to-Remain-Undisputed-King-at-168

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez remains Mexico’s top fighter and the undisputed super middleweight world champion with a resounding victory by unanimous decision over the hard-charging Jaime Munguia on Saturday.

If Mexico had a monarchy Alvarez would be king.

“I am the best Mexican fighter,” said Alvarez.

An announced crowd of 17,492 saw Guadalajara’s Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) patiently analyze the battle plan of Tijuana’s Munguia’s (43-1, 34 KOs) and then unravel it methodically every round at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

It was a battle for Mexico that pitted two dangerous fighters with Munguia entering the prize ring undefeated and hungry to establish himself as Mexico’s new power. He just wasn’t ready.

After Munguia opened up quickly behind a solid jab and combinations, Alvarez calmly blocked and parried the Tijuana fighter’s attacks for three rounds and then it happened.

After success in the first three rounds Munguia opened up with another attack in the fourth that Alvarez calmly timed and snapped a right uppercut to the chin that floored the Tijuana fighter for the first time in his career. He got up from the knockdown and was able to stave off a further Canelo attack.

The momentum suddenly changed and for good.

Alvarez stalked Munguia every round with a more aggressive approach and sometimes set traps for counters. Though the Mexican redhead found success he was unable to floor the taller Munguia again. But he did come close including the seventh when a left hook to the body visibly hurt Munguia. He survived.

It must have been frustrating for Munguia whose improvement in his boxing skills have been noticeable in his last three fights. Even in this fight his ability to defend and return fire against Canelo’s clever moves was a vast improvement over his career three years ago. But its not enough when battling one of the best fighters pound-for- pound in the world.

Four-division world champion Alvarez strategically proved his skills are another level that only a few today possess. It was a valuable lesson for Munguia to learn the same lesson Canelo received against Floyd Mayweather a decade ago.

Experience counts.

“He’s a fighter with a lot of experience,” said Munguia who had hoped his youth and stamina would help against the 33-year-old Alvarez.

Canelo said Munguia was a great fighter and very strong.

“I take my time,” said Alvarez “He’s strong but a little slow I saw every punch.”

Though it was the fifth consecutive fight without a knockout, Alvarez was satisfied with the unanimous decision to keep the WBO, WBA, WBC and IBF super middleweight titles. It was the first time two Mexican super middleweights fought for all the titles.

Alvarez said this win again proves he can fight whoever he chooses after fighting boxing greats like Miguel Cotto, Mayweather and other champions.

“I can do whatever I want to do,” said Alvarez.

Other Bouts

Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) floored Fabian Maidana (22-3, 16 KOs) in the third round but found the hard-punching Argentine too tough to finish off. Instead, he used a steady stream of jabs to win by unanimous decision after 12 rounds.

A touch left followed by a rifle right cross dropped Maidana. Instead of giving up, the younger brother of the great Marcos Maidana unleashed his own big blows to force Barrios into a more careful strategic fight mode. Especially after one or two blows caused a swelling on his right eye.

But Maidana never could find the antidote for Barrios’s jab that won the majority of the rounds for the San Antonio, Texas fighter. After 12 rounds all three judges scored it 116-111 for Barrios who keeps the interim welterweight title.

After a sluggish start, Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) found his footing midway through the super bantamweight match against Jesse Magdaleno (29-3, 18 KOs) and ended the match with a one-punch belt to the body to win the battle of former champions.

Magdaleno took the lead in the fight with clever boxing but slowly Figueroa cranked up his punch out-put and while during a furious exchange the fighter from Weslaco, Texas connected with a left to the body. Magdaleno could not beat the count at 2:59 of the ninth round.

Figueroa retains the interim super bantamweight title.

Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) used a power jab to separate from Venezuela’s Gabriel Maestre (6-1-1, 5 KOs) to retain the WBA welterweight world title by unanimous decision.

Despite two years from a ring appearance, Stanionis was able to out-work Maestre, a 37-year-old who was fighting for his first world title. Both had faced each other years ago as amateurs.

No knockdowns were scored but the fast-paced fight was won by the busier Stanionis whose jab was his primary weapon. All three scores favored the Lithuanian fighter 117-111, 118-110, 119-109.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Mielnicki, Ramos and Scull Victorious on Cinco de Mayo Weekend in Las Vegas

Published

14 hours ago

May 4, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Mielnicki-Ramos-and-Scull-Victorious-on-Cinco-de-Mayo-Weekend-in-Las-Vegas

Two 10-round junior middleweight prelims aired as teasers for tonight’s four-fight pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In the opener; New Jersey’s Vito Mielnicki Jr (pictured) scored his tenth straight win, advancing to 18-1 (12) with a wide decision over SoCal’s Ronald Cruz. Mielnicki, 21, put Cruz on the canvas in round three and again in round four, but So Cal’s Cruz (19-4-1) stayed the course and maintained his distinction of never being stopped. The judges had it 99-89, 98-90, and 96-92 for “White Magic” who had the noted trainer Ronnie Shields in his corner.

In the second bout – the main go of the prelims, so to speak – 23-year-old Arizona southpaw Jesus Ramos rebounded from his first loss (a narrow defeat to Erickson Lubin in this same ring) with a ninth-round stoppage of Johan Gonzalez who was making his third start in the U.S., having fought mostly in Venezuela and Panama.

Gonzalez was rugged, but his record heading in (34-2 with 33 KOs) was deceptive as he was out-classed by Ramos (21-1, 17 KOs) who was credited with landing roughly twice as many punches before he brought the bout to a conclusion. A counter left hook put Gonzalez down hard. He beat the count, but Ramos swarmed after him, rocking him with punches. There were only 5 seconds remining in the ninth frame when referee Harvey Dock waived it off. Gonzalez protested, but it was the right call.

Also

Super middleweight William Scull made his U.S. debut in an 8-round fight. A native of Cuba who had been living in Germany and now hangs his hat in Argentina, Scull, 31, scored a knockdown in the fifth round en route to winning a unanimous decision over New Orleans’ Sean Hemphill (16-2).

Scull is ranked #1 by the IBF, but you won’t find his name in the Top 15 of the other three major sanctioning bodies. Does the obscure William Scull have Canelo Alvarez in his future?

In another undercard bout of note, Mexico City super bantamweight Alan Picasso improved to 28-0-1 (16 KOs) with a fifth-round stoppage of Colorado’s Damien Vazquez (17-4-1). Picasso, 23, is ranked #2 at 122 by the WBC.

Check back later as TSS West Coast bureau chief David Avila weighs in with a recap of the Canelo-Munguia fight and the three fights preceding it. The bouts are available for purchase on multiple pay-per-view platforms: e.g. Prime, DAZN, and PPV.com.

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Boxing Odds and Ends: The Ryan Garcia PED Rumple and More

Published

2 days ago

May 3, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Boxing-Odds-and-Ends-The-Ryan-Garcia-PED-Rumple-and-More

Canelo Alvarez returns to the ring on Saturday. His fight with Jaime Munguia marks his seventeenth appearance in a Las Vegas ring and his twelfth Las Vegas engagement on a Mexican holiday weekend. But the pre-fight pub has been beclouded by a more arresting news story involving Canelo’s stablemate Ryan Garcia.

Dan Rafael and his successor at ESPN, Mike Coppinger, were the first to report that the banned substance Ostarine showed up in two urine specimens collected from Garcia by agents of the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (VADA). The specimens were collected on April 19 and April 20, the day prior and day of his conquest of heavily favored Devin Haney. The April 19 sample also showed traces of the banned drug 19-nonandrosterone, but apparently not a sufficient trace to express confidence in the finding.

A PED popular among bodybuilders, Ostarine helps build muscle mass and improve stamina. The substance, which has been found in dietary supplements, is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, an arm of the International Olympic Committee, and by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Upon leaning of this finding, “KingRy” took to social media to proclaim his innocence.

“Fake f***ing news…I never f***ing took a steroid in my f***ing life. I beat Devin Haney fair and square,” Garcia said in one of his many tweets. “I don’t even know where to get steroids at the end of the day…I barely take supplements,” he said in another. “I’m (going to) find out who paid to create this lie,” he said in a third.

Garcia’s promoter Golden Boy Promotions released a formal statement: “Ryan has put out multiple statements denying knowingly using any banned substances – and we believe him. We are working with his team to determine how this finding came to be and will address this further once we conclude the process.

Any sanctions imposed on Ryan Garcia will have to await the findings of his “B” samples. Reversals are extremely rare so the best guess is that the VADA finding will stand. The big question then becomes whether the New York State Athletic Commission will take away Garcia’s “W” and declare the match a no-contest. According to a bulletin published by the NYSAC in 2016 and updated in 2017, a boxer found to have used an unapproved drug, medication, or supplement is subject to various disciplinary actions including “modification of the official bout result.”

If the NYSAC changes the result to a no-contest, boxrec, the sport’s official record-keeper, would follow suit and Devin Haney would remain undefeated. Haney was 31-0 heading into his date with Garcia and considering his tender age – he doesn’t turn 26 until November – was accorded a reasonable shot of breaking Floyd Mayweather Jr’s 50-0 mark.

R.I.P. – Dingaan Thobela

Boxing fans in South Africa are mourning loss of Dingaan Thobela who passed away of an undisclosed illness on Monday, April 29, at his flat in Johannesburg at age 57.

Thobela won world titles at 135 and 168 pounds. He captured the WBO world lightweight belt at age 25, out-pointing Mexico’s Mauricio Aceves in Brownsville, Texas, and, 10 years later, in the twilight of his career, won the WBC super middleweight title with a 10^th-round stoppage of England’s Glen Catley in Johannesburg.

The WBO, founded in 1988, was a new organization with little cachet. Thobela abandoned the belt after two successful defenses to compete for the more prestigious WBA diadem. That led to two lightweight title fights with Tony Lopez, the first in Lopez’s hometown of Sacramento and the rematch four months later in South Africa at the Sun City resort in Bopthuthatswana.

Both fights went the distance. Lopez won the first meeting. Although all three judges (they were from Panama, Puerto Rico, and California) had the hometown fighter winning by 2 points, the verdict was highly controversial. At the finish, Tony the Tiger was all marked-up. “It looked, for all the world, that Lopez got his head handed to him,” wrote Sacramento Bee ringside reporter Mark Kreidler.

Thobela was nicknamed “The Rose of Soweto,” the reference to the ramshackle, all-black township in Johannesburg where he was born and raised. Although apartheid hadn’t yet been officially abolished, Soweto was well-represented in the inter-racial audience at the rematch in June of 1993 and there was dancing in the aisles when Thobela avenged his loss to Lopez with a well-earned unanimous decision.

Back in those days, flamboyant ring entrances were virtually unheard-of. Thobela may have started a trend with his outlandish procession. A tumbling acrobat led the way, followed by eight ring girls in colorful costumes and an African chief in full regalia. Thobela threw roses to the crowd as he made his way to the squared circle.

Thobela lost his last seven fights, finishing 40-14-2 (26 KOs) in a career in which he answered the bell for 418 rounds. At the time of his death, he was separated from his wife and living alone. Heavyweight contender Kevin Lerena was among those paying tribute. “Rest in peace to South African boxing legend Dingaan Thobela,” he wrote on Instagram. “Your talent and determination in the ring will never be forgotten. You always supported me and believed in my abilities, pushing me to reach my fullest potential. Thank you for your inspiration and motivation, Champ.”

Bazinyan

In case you missed it, Erik Bazinyan (32-0-1, 23 KOs) kept his unbeaten record intact last night (Thursday, May 2) when his match with former sparring partner Shakeel Phinn (26-3-2, 17 KOs) at the Montreal Casino was ruled a draw.

Although both reside in Quebec, the Armenia-born Bazinyan was the house fighter. This was his sixth straight appearance at the Casino and his 11^th appearance at this venue overall. And as the house fighter, he got a little help from the judges against his Jamaican-Canadian adversary.

Veteran judge Pasquale Procopio had it 97-93 for Phinn who was the aggressor, constantly backing Bazinyan into the ropes. That tally jibed with those in attendance and those looking on at home on ESPN+, but both fighters got their hand raised at the finish.

Bazinyan is ranked #3 by the WBC and the WBA, a notch behind his French-Cameroonian stablemate Christian Mbilli. The WBO ranks Bazinyan a notch above Mbilli (26-0, 22 KOs), which on the face of it is absurd considering their respective abilities.

Mbilli returns to the ring on May 25 in Shawinigan, Quebec with England’s Mark Heffron in the opposite corner. Mbilli is currently a 25/1 favorite. That sounds about right. His promoter Camille Estephan is notorious for matching his fighters soft.

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