BoxRec

Well I think the majority called this fight spot on, Judah had his fair share of moments early, but eventually a combination of Judah losing focus and Cotto's pressure told and Judah got stopped in the 11th round.

Don't mean to do Judah a disservice who showed tremendous heart and a damn good chin (and ability to absorb body shots).... Also don't want to do Cotto a disservice who rised to the occasion, however I think Judah is such a funny fecker to work out... The comparison's the US TV made with him and Golota is spot on. He just loses concentration, you cannot doubt his heart, fighting spirit or even chin after tonight - but he gets so easily distracted. Its entertaining, yet frustrating.

The First round was classic Judah (as stated by the commentator). He wobbles Cotto quite badly with a peach of an uppercut.A wobbled Cotto retaliates with a low blow and Judah goes down like a sack of shit for about 2 minutes. Momentum gone, Cotto recovered.

Then Judah goes uppercut happy and even looks for it again (waiting for Cotto to regroup and come forward) when he does Hurt Cotto. In the interim Cotto is quite dominant, busting Judah face up a good bit and going to the body. Just when you think Judah is ready to crumble, he wins the 7th big - using an effective jab and throwing combinations (something he hadn't done)... but then, when he hurts Cotto he hardly follows it up.

Then Cotto has a big 8th, Judah takes a knee (without taking a punch) midway through the 9th... it looks all over now, looks like he is about to quit Then all of a sudden, Judah possibly wins the 10th (although he was wobbled in the last 30). He then gets KD badly in the 11th and the fight is stopped.

Strange performance, he showed courage beyond the call of duty there - but why didn't he fight a better fight. He had the tools to beat Cotto. His performance was a little remenistent to Danny Williams vs Scott Gammer - one round he looks almost a different class, the next he is doing nout. A stamina problem perhaps?

Cotto for his part has well and truly arrived, still beatable, still open but a tough nut who is very strong and now at 147 cuts the ring down so much better than at 140. Think Mosley and Mayweather will be too slick, but would favour him over Cintron and Margarito.

I hope this is not the end for Judah at elite level, cause at least he brings a drama (often bad, but sometimes good) to the fights and he has skills and showed heart. I wouldn't mind seeing Cotto vs Judah II... it was a good un.

terrific fight.

cotto was red hot.

got nailed with a few but that's boxing.

all in all he tanked him.

real beatdown.

cotto was like a bloody computer game at times.

terrific talent he is.

I only gave Zab 2 or 3 rounds. Not sure it was the classic ppl are hailing it as. Definitely exciting, but I'm sure punch stats would give Cotto a pretty big advantage. Zab showed isolated pockets of class (jabs, body shots, lefts) but couldn't bring 'em all together. Cotto has Chavez like ability to break ppl down.

Does anyone know what the cards were at the time of the stoppage?

Autobarn wrote:I only gave Zab 2 or 3 rounds.

yeah i was surprised how close some had it.

judah lost the lot rds wise.

they don't show no mercy in the states do they.

judah's corner should have been in there in the 9th rd.

that was some brutal shit going in from cotto.

Not sure Judah had the tools to win. He couldn't sustain anything. Cotto's pressure worked a treat. It just wears you down. Zab was only waiting for the openings when Cotto left his chin out to dry. He hasn't got the physical strength (despite what Zab says, Cotto was the only natural welter in there) or the mental toughness to do consistent good work.

Cotto is a confrontational fighter who pushed Zab. Zab was really just going for broke after round six. He looked like he was thinking of giving up a couple of times and Cotto was surgical - his jabs, power lefts (from both stances), hooks and body beatings basically dismantled the New Yorker.

I just didn't see Cotto really hurt at all in that fight. Judah didn't even really have any moments. Sure, he hit Cotto with a few decent digs, but Cotto was retaliating immediately.

A complete and utter beatdown from the 3rd round onwards, Judah's face was a picture in the corner between rounds, you could see the desperation written all over his face.

Cotto is a MACHINE. He looked better than ever. I really would love to see him and mayweather get it on at welter.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I just didn't see Cotto really hurt at all in that fight. Judah didn't even really have any moments. Sure, he hit Cotto with a few decent digs, but Cotto was retaliating immediately.

A complete and utter beatdown from the 3rd round onwards, Judah's face was a picture in the corner between rounds, you could see the desperation written all over his face.

Cotto is a MACHINE. He looked better than ever. I really would love to see him and mayweather get it on at welter.

yeah he dominated.

judah only won 2 rds i thought.

he looked well intimidated in that corner.

the old man was doing his best in the corner.

poor judah was like a rabbit in the headlights.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:I just didn't see Cotto really hurt at all in that fight. Judah didn't even really have any moments. Sure, he hit Cotto with a few decent digs, but Cotto was retaliating immediately.

A complete and utter beatdown from the 3rd round onwards, Judah's face was a picture in the corner between rounds, you could see the desperation written all over his face.

Cotto is a MACHINE. He looked better than ever. I really would love to see him and mayweather get it on at welter.

Judder's body language was telling, also. His feet were faltering under some of those head/body beatings & he was looking at the ref/corner from about rd 7 onward. I loved it when Cotto finished a combo in the southpaw stance with a power left - that really had Judah off balance.

I felt Cotto WAS in trouble in the 1st, 2nd (end of round) and 7th. But watching it again it doesn't seem as bad. and obviously cotto has been hit WAY harder by ricardo torres.

some of the US writers are hyping cotto-judah as a "classic." I don't think it was - I gave Cotto 9 rounds and obviously 2 of those he scored knockdowns. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

For those too pikey to shell out for the fight (myself included!), here is a download link

(Kudos to mad_russian at RSR for the upload)

Miguel Angel Cotto vs. Zab Judah, 702 Mb, AVI.

Part 1:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=ZXJAS8P3

Part 2:
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RFCXL62O

(Use HJSplit to join the parts.)

verballistic wrote: solid take from top to bottom!! mayweather called it perfectly in the runup to his fight with judah...zab is a frontrunner---starts fast then gradually implodes!! zab has shown this in numerous fights, from his 2nd round tko loss to tszyu, his fast start and similar fades against both floyd and cotto!! it's basically a lack of mental toughness---he starts THINKING TOO MUCH and PUNCHING TOO LITTLE!! :(

tremendous physical talents and athleticism, but unless he can develop some mental toughness, he will ALWAYS come up short at top level!! he did show more heart toward the end tonite and took his punishment like a man, compared to PBF fight, where he was taking considerably less punishment but nonetheless chose to bail out with the foul and ensuing melee!!

Agree with everything you say, although I think a lack of mental toughness isn't the terminology I would use. For me, someone who lacks mental toughness is like how Mike Tyson fought vs McBride especially or Acelino Freitas vs Diego Corrales (maybe Juan Diaz but I have heard mixed reports as to whether he quit or was pulled out). When the going got tough, they got going (down). Judah didn't show this, what Judah continually shows is a lack of concentration - its like his attention span is so small. Even in fights he is dominating (early Tszyu/Baldomir) he seems to go to pieces as far as his own concentration is concerned. This is what Danny Williams essentially lacks - but he is no quiter - for me someone who isn't mentally tough will probably quit when he is under the cosh. The only time Judah showed good concentration and focus in a later part of a fight was both times vs Spinks. I thought Cory was well on top early in both fights... first time Cory hang on, second time Judah did well.

I agree with James in that he didn't have Cotto in major problems, but everytime he landed clean (almost) he seemed to stun Miguel... but not once did he try to follow it up. The only time he did, Cotto landed an accidental low blow and Judah went down like a sack of shit and gave Cotto the time to regroup. My main point in my first post that had Judah FOUGHT a little more and followed up those peaches of uppercuts a bit more effectively then maybe we might have seen Cotto in the sort of trouble that Ricardo Torres had him in. It was the fact that Torres followed up his attacks well that had Cotto in desperate trouble. I think as single shots this was as hard as Cotto had been hit, but unlike Torres, Judah just admired the shot too much.

I agree that Cotto's strength at 147 is phenominal, close if not stronger than Margarito (what a fight that would be). Judah should be at 140 and now will probably be out of the equation at 147 so will probably move down.

As I said in my first post, I wouldn't mind seeing Cotto vs Judah II if the likes of Margarito and Mosley are not in the equation. I think Paul Williams is very overated as is Cintron and I think Judah would do both of these. Also, in Judah's one rematch he seemed to get it right second time and I think there is somethings that he can change to possibly upset Cotto in a rematch.

Not a classic, but a damn exciting fight. It WAS a beatdown from the 3rd, but for me a beatdown with always a thought that Judah could turn it around.

Zab showed again he is maybe the fastest fighter out there, has a great jab, good power, couldn't miss with the uppercut when he threw it but again looked for the easy way out with his overacting from the low blows, couldn't sustain anything, didn't throw combinations and looked absolutely clueless 90% of the time when Cotto was applying pressure.

Cotto looked great though, excellent stalking, got hit and wobbled but answered straight back everytime and his shot accuracy was so much better than Zabs. Welter looks a great division at the moment with Cotto, Mosley, Judah, Williams, Magarito etc. It would be a shame not to see Hatton move up and test himself against these guys and Mayweather walk away from so many respectable challenges.

Hagler2002 wrote:Does anyone know what the cards were at the time of the stoppage?

all three had 97-91 (and remember Cotto had a point deducted)

Cotto looked stunned in each of the first three rounds, and I thought he looked in even worse trouble in the 7th ( I think )...but Zab always finds a way to lose the big ones doesn't he?

Weird how the guy with the supposed china chin looked a lot more sturdy than Cotto.

But must credit Cotto, he recovers in an instant - a real pro. You'd have to unload the type of combo that Holyfield finished off Tyson with to really get to him I think.

Zab's chin looks more than up to the task, at least he's never been counted out.

verballistic wrote:as evidenced by his melodramatic overreaction to the low blows thrown by cotto (they might have hurt, but not THAT badly)!! and that ill-advised melodrama hurt zab more than cotto, by giving miguel time to regroup!! classic self-defeating behavior by a basket case of a competitor!!

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Sorry are you a bloke or a bird? Because I know getting a bit of a bang in the nuts is debilitatingly painful let alone a Cotto uppercut. THE SECOND LOW BLOW WAS TERRIBLE.

If Judah didn't go down and turned his back he would have left himself undefended against a Cotto onslaught.

Apart from that agree with what you said, Judah had the tools to beat Cotto but didn't have the mental fortitude.

That was a different experience for Zab. He was blown out once. But he never took a long, systamatic type of beating as was the case this time. I'm hugely impressed with Cotto's artillery but his defense needs working on. I know those lefts were difficult to see coming.

Lots of fighters I'd like to see Cotto in with. Hatton-Castillo winner (easy to make if Castillo wins). Margarito-Williams winner (easy to make), Mosley (unlikely).

Autobarn wrote:That was a different experience for Zab. He was blown out once. But he never took a long, systamatic type of beating as was the case this time. I'm hugely impressed with Cotto's artillery but his defense needs working on. .

I don't think Cottos work was landing very cleanly at all, it is hard to look good against Zab though - Mayweather didn't look as flash against Judah after all.

I also don't think Cottos going to improve too much, he is what he is and I think Mosley/Mayweather would school him and Margarito may well knock him out if Cotto goes toe-toe. Hatton should try to make a Cotto fight as its still very much a 50-50, althoguh Cottos style would work better against Hatton than the other 3. Clottey too may beat Cotto.

Everyone of those guys should try to fight Cotto because I think hes a HUGE unbeaten name that has vunerabilities.

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

Autobarn wrote:That was a different experience for Zab. He was blown out once. But he never took a long, systamatic type of beating as was the case this time. I'm hugely impressed with Cotto's artillery but his defense needs working on. .

I don't think Cottos work was landing very cleanly at all, it is hard to look good against Zab though - Mayweather didn't look as flash against Judah after all.

I also don't think Cottos going to improve too much, he is what he is and I think Mosley/Mayweather would school him and Margarito may well knock him out if Cotto goes toe-toe. Hatton should try to make a Cotto fight as its still very much a 50-50, althoguh Cottos style would work better against Hatton than the other 3. Clottey too may beat Cotto.

Everyone of those guys should try to fight Cotto because I think hes a HUGE unbeaten name that has vunerabilities.

he ground him down. the punches weren't flashy but they did the job. are you trying to say they weren't effective?

I doubt even a prime Mosley would school Cotto. Cotto has been chasing lefties or fast fighters in 3 of his last 4. He had to pressurise and he did the job. Cotto's a very well schooled fighter and I find it impossible to see Mosley - who charges in with fast but wild shots - would "school" him. Doubt Mayweather would school him either. Floyd can't hurt Cotto and can't match his fire. He can frustrate him, but Cotto is a gifted fighter himself and his power can't be counted out.

Autobarn wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

Autobarn wrote:That was a different experience for Zab. He was blown out once. But he never took a long, systamatic type of beating as was the case this time. I'm hugely impressed with Cotto's artillery but his defense needs working on. .

I don't think Cottos work was landing very cleanly at all, it is hard to look good against Zab though - Mayweather didn't look as flash against Judah after all.

I also don't think Cottos going to improve too much, he is what he is and I think Mosley/Mayweather would school him and Margarito may well knock him out if Cotto goes toe-toe. Hatton should try to make a Cotto fight as its still very much a 50-50, althoguh Cottos style would work better against Hatton than the other 3. Clottey too may beat Cotto.

Everyone of those guys should try to fight Cotto because I think hes a HUGE unbeaten name that has vunerabilities.

he ground him down. the punches weren't flashy but they did the job. are you trying to say they weren't effective?

I doubt even a prime Mosley would school Cotto. Cotto has been chasing lefties or fast fighters in 3 of his last 4. He had to pressurise and he did the job. Cotto's a very well schooled fighter and I find it impossible to see Mosley - who charges in with fast but wild shots - would "school" him. Doubt Mayweather would school him either. Floyd can't hurt Cotto and can't match his fire. He can frustrate him, but Cotto is a gifted fighter himself and his power can't be counted out.

I agree with everything else apart from this. While Mayweather will never be a one-punch knockout artist, and will struggle to stop people on a regular basis above light-welter, to categorically state that he can't hurt Cotto is going a little too far.

It's become quite clear that Cotto can be very vulnerable, and it's not just weight issues that cause this. Judah could have had him out of there had he commited himself more after that first big uppercut, and, lest we forget, Mayweather had De La Hoya stunned up a weight from where a Cotto fight is most likely to occur. If he can make De La Hoya's legs dip (however temporary the effects might be) then there's little doubt in my mind that he's capable of doing the same to Cotto.

Autobarn wrote:

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:

Autobarn wrote:That was a different experience for Zab. He was blown out once. But he never took a long, systamatic type of beating as was the case this time. I'm hugely impressed with Cotto's artillery but his defense needs working on. .

I don't think Cottos work was landing very cleanly at all, it is hard to look good against Zab though - Mayweather didn't look as flash against Judah after all.

I also don't think Cottos going to improve too much, he is what he is and I think Mosley/Mayweather would school him and Margarito may well knock him out if Cotto goes toe-toe. Hatton should try to make a Cotto fight as its still very much a 50-50, althoguh Cottos style would work better against Hatton than the other 3. Clottey too may beat Cotto.

Everyone of those guys should try to fight Cotto because I think hes a HUGE unbeaten name that has vunerabilities.

he ground him down. the punches weren't flashy but they did the job. are you trying to say they weren't effective?

I doubt even a prime Mosley would school Cotto. Cotto has been chasing lefties or fast fighters in 3 of his last 4. He had to pressurise and he did the job. Cotto's a very well schooled fighter and I find it impossible to see Mosley - who charges in with fast but wild shots - would "school" him. Doubt Mayweather would school him either. Floyd can't hurt Cotto and can't match his fire. He can frustrate him, but Cotto is a gifted fighter himself and his power can't be counted out.

Cottos defense is so open and his attacks and movements forewards are telegraphed. Thats why not much of his work was effective. He landed quite a bit in the last few rounds as Judah effectively gave up. Judah didn't have the balls to take the fight to Cotto despite them been swollen up a few sizes . Judah when he actually punched got the better of Cotto. Judah didn't punch though and just backed up and then backed up some more. It was if his plan was to roll out the way of all of Cottos combos and then throw 1 left in retaliation.

Cotto was on queer street 3 times, and was very easy to find, this defensive flaw isn't a new thing - its been very open and very easy to find against Torres, Corley, Maginaggi.

Cotto is particularly open for right hands. And Mosley and Mayweather would paint a pretty right hand picture on his face. I think Cotto-Mosley would look much like Vargas-Mosley. Mosley will be landing that fast right hand flush all night. I can't believe Judah didn't throw the right hook because it would have been easy to land, instead he was waiting to get an occasional straight left off

A great win against a world class opponnent but it raised as many questions about Judah as it answered.

Why you think Mayweather can't hurt Cotto when Corley, Judah and Torress have all rocked his world I am unsure about.

You must be blind mate?

Not much of his work was effective. Every shot he landed on Judah had a clear effect.

Cotto is not a one punch knockout artist, that isn't what he does, he grinds his opponent down with the cumulative effect of his shots.

Cotto picked off a lot of Judah's shots with his gloves, and caught a lot on his forearms, he took a few big shots, but so what, this is boxing, not fencing.

Cotto had a clear gameplan going into the fight, and he executed it to perfection. He bashed Judahs ribs, sides and arms with his shots, took his legs away and forced him to stand on the inside and fight, which was precisely where he wanted the fight to be. In the end, Judah had nowhere to run, and got worked over big time.

I fail to see how Cotto could have imposed his will more effectively on Judah.

Sure, Cotto is no mayweather, he doesn't have a watertight defence, but If you were to ask Judah who he would rather fight a rematch with, I bet you he would say Mayweather.

Cotto smashed Judah to bits in bite size chunks, he's like a Piranha in there.

jamesmcdonnell wrote:.

Cotto smashed Judah to bits in bite size chunks, he's like a Piranha in there.

no he didn't. judah broke himself down, by imploding mentally. cotto wasn't effective, remember. he only landed when judah let him. judah didn't want to win so he gave up, effectively making cotto look good

Cotto wasn't effective?!!

the fact that Judah is a bit of a mentalist in there doesn't take away from the fact that Cotto battered him all over the place.
as someone said, this is boxing, everyone gets hit and hurt, Cotto should be getting credit for taking heavy shots and firing back, thats what champions do.
I just don't understand how you can criticize Cotto after he systematically dismantled an opponent who many thought would pose him serious problems and possibly beat him

assassin wrote:Cotto wasn't effective?!!

the fact that Judah is a bit of a mentalist in there doesn't take away from the fact that Cotto battered him all over the place.
as someone said, this is boxing, everyone gets hit and hurt, Cotto should be getting credit for taking heavy shots and firing back, thats what champions do.
I just don't understand how you can criticize Cotto after he systematically dismantled an opponent who many thought would pose him serious problems and possibly beat him

hope ppl saw my post as a parody of nutrigrain's

verballistic wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:Sure, Cotto is no mayweather, he doesn't have a watertight defence, but If you were to ask Judah who he would rather fight a rematch with, I bet you he would say Mayweather.

one might think that, based on total punishment absorbed, but zab said postfight that he would go to puerto rico to rematch cotto...claiming the low blows "drained him" and effected his performance!! we all know he was being melodramatic in his reaction to the low blows, but many who saw him fight mayweather believe that zab's INTENTIONAL 10th round low blow/rabbit punch combo on floyd was zab's way of bailing out, or at the very least, a much-needed respite from floyd's 9th & 10th round onslaught, which was the most punishment judah had absorbed in the whole fight!! and zab has said nothing about a rematch with PBF, either postfight or since then...IMO that's because floyd's mastery over zab was more mental than physical---exploiting zab's lack of mental toughness and inability to keep his focus or momentum after the first few rounds!! mayweather called zab a "frontrunner" before there 4/06 bout, then went out and confirmed his own analysis (or helped zab to confirm it)!! zab knows floyd "has his number", at least mentally...

Maybe you're right. Whether Zab believes he can beat Cotto or not, I can only see another pounding in his future if he takes on Cotto again.

Judah was blatantly looking for a way out of the fight, that's why he was throwing himself on the floor after borderline low blows. I loved it when the ref just told him to get up as 'you can't win the fight from the floor' making it clear he wasn't going to give Zab the DQ he was looking for.

Floyd did give him more of a mental beatdown, Cotto's was definetly physically punishing.