Miguel Cotto and the Art of Guerilla Warfare
 By Martin Wade (May 5, 2012) Photo © German Villasenor, Doghouse Boxing
-
“The Enemy is infinitely
inferior to the King’s Troops in Open Space”
- Anonymous British soldier
Sound familiar? Consider it
the most historic scouting report you’re ever going to read on a boxing website
and a lesson in warfare. I’ll bet you didn’t know the very country that allows
you to put your feet up Saturday Night and indulge in “sport” as entertainment
was basically won by tactics considered dishonorable. So the next time you hear
someone complain about “tactics,” remember, we had snipers in trees teeing off
on Redcoats standing in perfect alignment. This brings me to tonight’s main
event and what we consider to be a “championship bout.” It really isn’t.
Technically, Miguel Cotto secured a belt at a weight far from his prime without
having to face anyone who can expose the considerable damage he absorbed in
lower weight classes. Floyd Mayweather is the boxing equivalent to OxyClean; he
will systematically rinse any foe of the preparation he thought he had and
leave nothing but clarity. There’s a talent gap here and nothing on Pedro
Diaz’s résumé can close it without an ode to the unconventional, the “dark arts,”
so to speak. Miguel Cotto is a deliberate and thoughtful man and it comes out
in his approach inside the squared circle but this is the safest place in the
world for Floyd Mayweather. Without the element of surprise, Cotto will find
himself reduced to boxing’s version of Johnny Bench. He’ll be catching
(punches) all night long.
He
Need not Look Far for His “Inner Black Swan”…
Many fighters have had
success in just as many endeavors against odds and opponents they had no damned
business being competitive against. Joe Frazier did extremely well against a
6’3” gazelle with an 80” reach and Roberto Duran jumped from lightweight to
nearly run an optimum version of Ray Leonard out of the ring. Cotto need not
look very far down his own ledger for inspiration, namely the gutter language
and cigars of Ricardo Mayorga. If playing the results, surmising the buffoon he
became, it would be easy to discredit him but not many welterweights today- even
Mayweather- could have stood up to Mayorga the night he mugged the late Vernon
Forrest. One of the things each of these men had in common was malice; none of
them wanted to “win” the fights they were in- winning was a byproduct. Miguel Cotto
should strike “win” from his vocabulary because that word is derived in the
tangible universe where everything makes sense but most fighters think they’d
at least land a jab in round one- until they meet Mayweather. Victor Ortiz
figured he was at least due a jab, maybe even a flush shot, until Mayweather
put him in survival mode, mentally. Remember, Ortiz was KO’d by two punches
Mayorga in his brief zenith allowed his
opponent. When “El Matador” did this, he shifted the unspoken rhythm and
conventional terrain of a boxing match- he tampered with the psyche of a
decorated amateur and world champion. Vernon Forrest was no longer sure what
“winning” meant nor (face it) his personal safety vs. a guy like Mayorga. Floyd
is all about winning; Cotto has to show him it’s about something different –he
should simply go in there with the intention of harming Floyd. I’m sure Pedro
Diaz is telling Cotto, “You beat speed with timing” but the only timing he
should employ is that of Rocky Marciano’s “anytime”, anytime, anywhere,
including the wrist and arms. Guerilla Warriors don’t aim for parts of the body
nobody in 42 fights have been able to hit consistently-they aim for what he
shows you because they aren’t keeping score.
The
Brooklyn “Head Crack”…
Iran Barkley was like that
hood-ass cousin you love but you can’t take him nowhere because he don’t know
how to act. In the late 1980s/early ‘90s, he crashed a super talented
middleweight/super middleweight landscape with varying results. There were
long, fast, gifted guys like Michael Nunn and technicians like Mike McCallum
who roamed that jungle but Barkley made himself viable by beating future Hall-of-Famer
Tommy Hearns twice. He didn’t win vs.
elite opposition (other than Hearns) after that but his rugged style was no
picnic for opponents. It took a tough S.O.B. to beat him. Barkley had a way of
making much more talented men fight his fight and there’s genius in that. Sun
Tzu once said a great “tactic” of war was to appear ineffective while
concealing that you are effective- Mayweather can make this easy because he
seems to do that for opponents simply by showing up. Iran Barkley befuddled a
generation of guys that should know better with a swooping overhand right he
hilariously christened “The Bronx/Brooklyn Head Crack.” Save for the Darryl
Dawkins-like name, the actual punch was organic and Cotto, while attacking
Mayweather with “something that appears ineffective,” should find the unusual
to dress up his vaunted left hook to the body. Mayweather already tipped his
hand by telling anyone that will listen that Emanuel Burton was his toughest
fight. If your ears stand up when Floyd makes the comment, you’re probably
combing through the words for something “disrespectful” to pounce on. Not me; I
can see it and instead of focusing on the then-Emanuel Burton’s career as a
whole, I asked myself who and what the recently retired “Drunken Master” was.
He was extremely competent
while appearing incompetent, to some, a clownish figure but underneath it all
lay one badass little dude. Burton (now Augustus) didn’t wither in the light of
Floyds great talent because he knew Floyd knew all of the answers in a book he
rarely reads. Cotto is, in Floyd’s words, “solid” and watching him with his
family, you get the same sense that this is a guy who you call first when you’re “jammed up.” But is he
eccentric enough to create something that isn’t there, “guerilla” enough to
cause Mayweather harm and puncture his confidence? Emanuel Burton made him work
for it but Jose Luis Castillo made him run.
Like any great fighter, Mayweather knows Miguel Cotto; he’s been watching him
since day one and knows the Puerto Rican believes in himself- believes he has
enough to win. A Guerilla Warrior is in no way unrealistic; he takes to the
trees and caves because he has to. He ambushes because it’s the only way to
even the odds; he isn’t worried about his reflection because he’s covered in mud.
Mayweather’s opponents either fail through attrition, stupidity or both- and
Floyd knows that his ability to shapeshift and adjust is more intimidating than
punching power. Shane Mosley showed he can be hurt but Mayweather morphed in
stance and became the hunter while Mosley remained himself- not good enough.
Floyd knows when he shells up and gets defensive, punch counts plummet and men
who shouldn’t be thinking start thinking. Emmanuel Burton didn’t “go there”; he didn’t have the boxing sense of
self to try and prove that he can “box too.” He simply fought.
“Though
we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been associated with
long delay”- Sun Tzu
Floyd Mayweather has a
mantra, something he repeats no matter who he fights and it isn’t repeated
without purpose: “It’s different when you get in there”; “Don’t make a mistake”
and “There’s no blueprint to beat me.” All of these statements are designed to
create pause and give him that nanosecond needed to put his computer to work
and his opponent at a disadvantage. Ortiz “looked” like he was in a hurry to
get to Floyd but had no plan once he cornered him; like a great jazz drummer,
Floyd fills any empty measures with a punch. Once the crowd’s awe become pronounced,
the unprepared Ortiz unraveled into a sickening headbutt. Cotto has to appear
to be easy to hit while disallowing actual flush punches to take a toll. Before
long, he will put Floyd in a situation he isn’t used to: exchanging. This has
to start early; Floyd’s biggest deception is that he isn’t a tough, gritty
fighter- to bring it out of him is to bring him into an arena where he can be
hurt. Cotto already (without fighting) put Floyd in a position where he had to
go against his nature and suspend denigrating his opponent- one of his biggest psychological
weapons was forfeited by the master. Cotto should be unconcerned with making
Floyd respect him. What he should be going for is that “What the hell?”
expression. Floyd mimicked Cotto’s stance and approach to the letter in episode
three of HBO’s “24/7.” Cotto and Pedro Diaz should consider Floyd’s genius as
an invitation (for Cotto) to throw shots he hasn’t previously put in
combination before. High lactic acid thresholds and optimum muscle endurance
will mean nothing if you’re doing the same things. Cotto (with Diaz) must mix
the conventional with the ludicrous.
It’s right there for the
taking and all Cotto has to do is become unpredictable but it’s not as
intimidating as it seems. We all have to get “guerilla” when faced with reaching
out and grabbing what we want and it will always take a last-minute revelation
requiring decisiveness to see it through. Songs are written about it; just
listen to the lyrics of Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” We all know that at some
point staying on a conventional path can be a death sentence and, hopefully,
Cotto knows this going in. Quit that job and move. Start that website with $200
and no food. Throw an overhand right at medium range against the greatest
defensive fighter who ever lived- it’s all the same sh*t. One thing is for sure;
if Cotto stays the same, he’ll make another great payday to continue being the
greatest husband/father in the world but if he unlocks a slightly schizophrenic
alter ego, he may be the greatest Puerto Rican fighter in history.
“Invincibility lies in the
defense, the possibility of victory in the attack”- Sun Tzu
This Article provided to Doghouse Boxing by © MaxBoxing.com.
E-mail Martin: mar10world@aol.com
For more of Martin's work, visit BraggingRightsCorner.com
NEW: Follow Doghouse Boxing on FaceBook!
Make sure you check out the NEW and IMPROVED Doghouse Boxing Forums (Login with your Facebook or Twitter account - Now Mobile, Ipad, Blackberry, Android & YouTube Friendly) DogPound
For more Boxing News 24/7 and so much more... visit our homepage now!
|
|
