What was Cotto's camp thinking ?!?

Question

No disrespect to Cotto and his people but..... Why in the world was he head hunting a bearded monster in Maragrito?? Where was the classic body work that led him to most if not all of his battles in the ring !? He was clearly out of his element but why didn't he attack the body? We all knew going in that Margarito had the granite chin. So what in the world was he thinking after he hit him for the umpteenth time to the head and he kept coming forward? Was Margarito's defense that good?

Answer 1

Cotto is a limited fighter.  When plan "a" didn't work.  He went back to plan "a".  Then he tried plan "a".

If these guys truly want to be great fighters, they need to identify what they do poorly, and do whatever they can to get better at it.  Instead, we often get guys that are good at one thing, and do everything they can to get better at it.  That's how you get upsets in boxing, when the Buster Douglas moment arrives, a fighter that isn't well-tooled simply loses.  Since I'm a big Holmes fan, I'll use him as an example.  His fight against Weaver, his offense was just blown up.  His traditional style was getting him lashed on both sides of his head.  He had some infighting technique, drew Weaver in close and blasted him with a counter upppercut.  Without Holmes having practiced infighting, he'd have lost to Weaver.  He wasn't particularly good at infighting, but he knew enough to get in that big uppercut that Weaver never saw.  It saved him.  Against Cooney, he found that he could land looping overhand rights, something he never used previously.

Cotto head-hunted because leaning for bodyshots tends to make a boxer vulnerable to counters to the head.  It was too dangerous for him to lean in.  Cotto needed more tools in his toolbox of fighting skills last night.  He didn't have them.

Answer 2

Cotto was afraid to go low and be caught upstairs....I also think Cotto thought he could KO Margarito via the head.

Cotto wasted a lot of punches in the fight, while Margarito was cool and calculated...

Experience played a lot in this fight....

Answer 3

I totally agree with you man. Marg had a better boxing game plan, Marg worked the body and the chin. But my boy Cotto rarely went to the body with his power punchers, I guess Cotto figured since his uppercuts were landing me might eventually let out a knockout punch, but other than that Cotto did nothing to prove he was even in the same league as Marg.