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Mayorga Is Worth A Shot Getting The Vegas Odds Versus Cotto…LOTIERZO

Published

11 years ago

March 10, 2011

(by Chris Farina-Top Rank)

Ricardo Mayorga 29-7-1 (23) is doing everything in his power to get under the skin of WBA junior middleweight title holder Miguel Cotto 35-2 (28). And based on Cotto's reactions, it doesn't seem to be working. At Monday's press conference Cotto let promoters Bob Arum and Don King shield him instead of taking place in the traditional staredown pose with Mayorga for the press. And of course Mayorga started with the name calling and accusing Miguel of being afraid of him. Which of course is preposterous to any boxing fans who have even followed Cotto's career on the periphery. If there's one thing we know about Miguel Cotto, it's that he's never balked at the thought of fighting anyone.

Apparently Cotto was forewarned to avoid any and all contact with Mayorga due to the fear that the two boxers could get into some sort of a ruckus at the press conference. And Cotto smartly let Mayorga carry the show and only did what he had to before leaving for Las Vegas. Miguel is too much of a pro to fall for Mayorga's tired antics.

“He’s gentlemanly when we’re alone, like this morning,” Cotto said. “He’s just trying to sell himself. When I want to put pressure on him and move, I will … if he has better skills than me, I’ve never seen them.”

Does that sound familiar? Interesting on the day after the 40th anniversary of Frazier vs. Ali I, Cotto says that. Because that was Ali's way with Frazier leading up to all three of their historic battles. Whenever Muhammad and Joe were together and out of the public eye, Ali was very cordial and complimentary to Frazier. But once the cameras and media arrived, Ali ridiculed and demeaned Frazier as a man and fighter every way imaginable. And Joe kept it inside and only let it all out once they were in the ring. To this day I'm perplexed as to why Ali never figured out after their epic first fight that taunting Joe Frazier only made it tougher for him on fight night.

Granted, Cotto is no “Smokin” Joe Frazier, and Mayorga is barely Rahman Ali. But one gets the sense that Cotto is keeping everything inside and will show no mercy on Mayorga if he gets him in trouble during the fight. That said, if you're in Las Vegas and betting the fight, Mayorga is the pick. In order to win $100.00, you have to bet anywhere between $1000.00 – $1200.00 on Cotto, whereas as $100.00 Mayorga will net you $600.00 – $800.00 back.

Let's be honest, there's not one sophisticated boxing observer alive who would say as a joke that Mayorga is a class fighter in Cotto's league. Not one. However, Mayorga is bigger with an unorthodox style and he can punch. On top of that there isn't a bit a pressure on him. If he loses he was expected to. And if he wins, he thinks he's suddenly a player in the running to fight Manny Pacquiao for what would be the biggest payday of his career. On the other hand, Cotto is hoping to get a rematch with Antonio Margarito if he gets past Mayorga, so there is definitely more pressure on him.

From a style vantage point, Mayorga is good for Cotto. Those wild and unorthodox fighters give stylish guys like Vernon Forrest trouble, but systematic fighters who break down the body can eat them up. But remember, Cotto is small at the weight and is pretty banged up. If you take into account the long odds and Mayorga's advantage in size, along with him fighting with no real pressure, it's hard to pass up the between six and eight to one odds against him.

Then again, it's hard to think Bob Arum would take this fight if it wasn't a sure Cotto win. And after the way Mayorga looked against De La Hoya, it just might be. No, I can't pick Mayorga to beat Cotto, but I'd still take the Vegas odds and bet him if I was betting the fight. It's not like I'd lose sleep if I lost the bet. Not with those odds.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Frank Lotierzo

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2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

6 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

6 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

6 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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