Shane Mosley-Miguel Cotto - Fight of the Year?

 By Julius Stecker, Boxing Analyst

 New York, NY - NFL football fans were just treated to Super
 Bowl 41-and-a-half, with the New England Patriots eking past the Indianapolis
 Colts, 24-20.

 Now, fight fans can get ready for their very own Super Bowl, which will take
 place Saturday at the famed Madison Square Garden when former 3 division
 champion “Sugar” Shane Mosley (44-4, 37 KO’s) takes on undefeated WBA
 Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto (30-0, 25KO’s) live on HBO PPV.  And while
 this fight won’t have the glitz or the promotion of Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd
 Mayweather Jr., it promises to be a much better fight, pitting Mosley’s speed
 and skill versus Cotto’s pressure and power.

 It has the makings of a a fight similar to the 1990 classic between Meldrick
 Taylor and Julio Cesar Chavez.  Cotto is the younger, fresher fighter at just
 27 years old, while Mosley is the wily old vet looking to cement his legacy as
 one of the finest fighters of his era.

 “I trained really hard for this fight,” explained Cotto in a recent conference
 call with the media. “I’m pretty happy with that…I hope chances stay pretty
 good for bringing a good show to all the people.”

 Miguel Cotto is coming off a defining win over Zab Judah this past June, in a
 fight for which he gave all fans of the sport a night to remember.  His
 consistent pressure of the fast and slick Judah led to an 11th-round TKO
 victory.  The question people have going in is whether Cotto can duplicate
 that performance against a much better fighter in Mosley.  Cotto believes his
 time has come.

 “I don’t think at the age of 36 years old Shane can handle [me],” stated
 Cotto, believing that his youth and strength will carry the day.

 Mosley, meanwhile, has been preparing for this fight in his usual seclusion in
 Big Bear, California, as he looks to once again place himself among the elite
 in the sport. Mosley is excited about the chance to fight in Madison Square
 Garden, a place where legends were made.

 “It’s going to be a great feeling to be in Madison Square Garden to fight
 where all the legendary fighters fought,” said Mosley. “You know, Ray
 Robinson, Muhammad Ali, all the great fighters fought in this arena. And for
 me to fight in there in the big arena with Miguel Cotto who is a great Puerto
 Rican fighter, young fighter, coming up, this is history in the making. And I
 love to be in these types of fights, with the crowd screaming.”
 call with the Media.

 What will happen on Saturday night?  For that answer I reached out to get the
 opinion of former world title challenger and now elite trainer John “Iceman”
 Scully.

 Scully explained, “This fight will be Cotto’s biggest test.  But I wouldn’t
 say this is Mosley’s biggest test, as he has been in there with the best
 already. Shane is a little more well-rounded and he brings a lot to the table.
 Some of the things that were missing from Judah, Mosley has them because he is
 a higher-level fighter.  Too bad he couldn’t have fought Cotto when he was
 younger, because I think the guy who beat De La Hoya a while back beats Cotto,
 no problem.  But the sentiment for the fight seems preordained for Cotto. This
 will be the first time that Mosley will be going in as the opponent. The way
 it is going, I would consider it a slight upset to other people if Mosley were
 to win, just because of the sentiment…Every time Cotto has fought, he has
 been the stronger guy.  So we will see this time.  Shane has looked really
 good in his last few fights, but not the way he looked in his first fight with
 Oscar.”

 Just read the above analysis from Scully and you pretty much have my thoughts
 as well.  I think a young Mosley would have won comfortably over Cotto, but
 this is an older fighter, so this will be a very close fight until the end.
 The question is, will Mosley be able to keep Cotto off of him?  If not, Cotto
 will win, but if Mosley can control the action, Mosley will prevail. Mosley
 has more speed and the higher skill level, but Cotto has fantastic skills
 along with great strength.  So you want my opinion?  I think it will be
 the fight of the year.  Who do I think will win?  The fans will win.

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