Miguel Cotto vs Erislandy Lara

[ReggieDiggs]

ESPNDeportes.com is saying Erislandy could end up being Cotto's next opponent.

What do you think the likelihood of this fight going down is?

Who do you like?

I still think we are gonna have to wait til Floyd makes a decision before Miguel makes his cuz a rematch is the biggest thing he could get & if Manny doesn't take the fight he's the #1 contender for a Floyd fight imho, but I like this fight if it came off although I don't like Miguel's chances. I am a Erislandy fan & Cuban amateur fanboy for full disclosure.

[ikorolev]

No way Roach allows Cotto to fight Lara. Lara is not a draw, but risk of losing to him is too high. I have Lara taking a confident decision around 116-112.

[HitBattousai]

Even though it's a tough matchup, I like Cotto's chances. He's good at cutting off the ring and then putting punches together, and Lara has decent but not outstanding power, which means I doubt he'll be able to keep Cotto at bay.

[Evander]

Technically it would be a challenge for Cotto due to Lara's style, but Cotto's career seems to be having a second wind.
It's certainly not an easy pick but right now I'd give Cotto the edge.
In terms of entertainment Cotto sells himself and is almost always involved in good tear ups, Lara can be a bit hit and miss.

[Chepppaaa]

people so underestimate lara. top 5 in every departmant worldwide. athleticsm, jab, footwork. #1 @154

[FloydtheDuck]

Lara 118-110 all day

[Deadendgeneration]

people so underestimate lara. top 5 in every departmant worldwide. athleticsm, jab, footwork. #1 @154

Except he already lost to the number 1 fighter at 154. Close though it was, he only had himself to blame for the result.

[handsofstone]

Cotto's made for Lara but I still reckon Miguel will get the nod from the judges,unless Lara dominates him like Trout did to leave it in no doubt

[Tarkus]

What do you think the likelihood of this fight going down is?

Little. I dont think Cotto would choose the risk of been beaten by Lara to that of Canelo or GGG. The risk is very high in all thee case whereas the reward is smallest with Lara.

[Guelwaar]

it would be good if it happens....it would send the message that cotto is willing to fight the best and give deserving top contenders the shot which is what he should be doing as champ.

i have lara to dominate this and beat canelo in the rematch...lara is top 4 or 5 pfp

[ReggieDiggs]

What do you think the likelihood of this fight going down is?

Little. I dont think Cotto would choose the risk of been beaten by Lara to that of Canelo or GGG. The risk is very high in all thee case whereas the reward is smallest with Lara.

Tend to agree. Miguel has a few fights that could arguably get him 8 figure paydays. He's not gonna risk that on a guy whos definitely capable of flushing those 8 figure paydays down the toilet. Its either gonna be a borderline human sacrifice or one of those big name, big payday cats next imho.

Respect if he does pick a guy like Erislandy.

[IKSRTFO]

Even though it's a tough matchup, I like Cotto's chances. He's good at cutting off the ring and then putting punches together, and Lara has decent but not outstanding power, which means I doubt he'll be able to keep Cotto at bay.

If Floyd can, Lara certainly can

[jujigatame]

Good fight if it happens, although I'm not sure I'd buy it on PPV. Would Lara be moving up to 160?

[tiny_acres]

I would pick Cotto in this one by ud.Lara is just not busy enough for Cotto.

[handsofstone]

My thoughts on this match up are quite simple

If Trout can dominate Cotto a few years ago then surely Lara does too

I'm not even taking into consideration the fact Erislandy beat Austin,its just that IMO Lara is similar but better than Trout,even if Trout did beat Lara,Lara's style is still all wrong for Miguel

Cotto maybe gets away with bulldozing shorter slicksters down at 147,up at 154 or beyond,not so much

[sucracristo]

everything is on hold until the fight that shall not be named comes to a resolution
one way or the other.

[beatdown337]

Of the top 5 toughest fights out there for Miguel this is one. I would have MAD respect for him for taking this because there is much glamour upside to this except with boxing purists. Only thing would be Lara has to stand and trade more. Too much lateral movement makes it look like he's running.

[KBB]

I think Lara is a good enough fighter to give Cotto a good run but ultimately he backs up too much and Miguel is excellent at cutting off the ring and at some point it will come down to a battle of who has the bigger guns and at this point I'm not sure if Erislandy's guns are bigger than Miguel's so I'm going with Cotto by UD.

[Badhusker]

Lara all day - something like 116-112 or wider. I guess it depends on which of each show up though. Lara has looked nearly unbeatable in some of his fights, but very beatable in a few others. Cotto looked great against Martinez, but with no solid wheels and nearly 40 he should have.

I agree with whoever said this is a fight that won't happen though. Roach has already said Lara is "not a draw", which translates to a Very high risk fight for Cotto, but hope he takes it. Lara is much more of a draw than the guy Cotto fought before Martinez.

[Chepppaaa]

lara is unbeaten, think about it

[Badhusker]

lara is unbeaten, think about it

I used to think that way too, but he did have draws against Molina and Vanes, and the narrow loss to Canelo. Out of those three, I thought he definitely won the fight with Canelo. An argument can be made about the other two also, but the fact remains he fought very close with guys he should have dominated, or had clear wins with. PW was also very close, but I expected that.

[Oiky]

high risk low reward

[Dennis]

High risk, low reward may be the correct answer. I would watch the fight if it was made. I think a LOT of other people would too.

[Chepppaaa]

lara is unbeaten, think about it

I used to think that way too, but he did have draws against Molina and Vanes, and the narrow loss to Canelo. Out of those three, I thought he definitely won the fight with Canelo. An argument can be made about the other two also, but the fact remains he fought very close with guys he should have dominated, or had clear wins with. PW was also very close, but I expected that.

i watched canelo lara live on tv. i rewatched williams lara a couple of days ago, simply because i was interested in trully knowing who won.

lara like i said often times mad canelo miss shots better than anybody before did, he technicly was above him and easily won 7 rounds, lets make 1-2 rounds were close, therefore draws and lets give 3-4 rounds at best, those rounds where the stupid lara stopped punching at all and just moved. yet, than still you have lara as a winner, no doubt.

as far as the williams fight goes, harold letterman had it 9:3 for lara at the end. roy jones who was commentator said "that is wrong about boxing" when williams was declared a winner.

the molina fight was also crap, lara won that.

and last but not least the fight against vanes, it was close, i had lara winning.

for me, if lara has no real loss, were you could say "yeah he got outboxed, or outslugged or dominated"

sure if lara starts brawling than he can lose obviously, as he was close loosing to hart hitting angulo, but dont forget, if anybody starts brawling with a big time puncher anything can happen, if floyd would have decided to take on bailey back than and decided trading heavy hands, than % would have been high he would have slepped for a while like pac did against marquez.

[Lackeos]

people so underestimate lara. top 5 in every departmant worldwide. athleticsm, jab, footwork. #1 @154

Not to mention that he lost to Alvarez, drew with Martirosyan, and robbed Molina. So... basically the best fighter in the division. ... Except not.