Weekend Wrap-Up, Nov. 12, 2007 - Cotto-Mosley, Margarito and More

Going into Saturday's fight against Sugar Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto still had some doubters. It's hard to believe those doubts are still there after his hard-fought victory.

We knew Cotto was a ferocious body puncher, we knew he had the heart to fight his way out of early trouble and we knew he could apply pressure. What we didn't know was whether he could make adjustments if he ran into a fighter good enough to spoil his Plan A.

Cotto answered that question definitively, fighting and winning rounds while backing up and counter-punching. His stiff jab came and went, but he was able to survive and even thrive despite the reversal of the boxers' expected roles.

Mosley made his own mid-match strategy changes, and he became the aggressor when it was clear he needed to do so. Sugar Shane probably didn't deserve the victory, but one more round in his favor and he gets the draw - in fact, all three staff members here at BoxingWatchers.com scored the fight a draw.

Even at age 36, Mosley was plenty good. Cotto was simply better. My brother Uatu summed it up pretty well when he sent me a text message that said, "Cotto is better than I thought." I imagine a lot of boxing fans are feeling the same way.

As for Saturday's undercard...

Antonio Margarito proved that his loss to Paul Williams was just a temporary setback, destroying Golden Johnson in less than a round. Since there won't be any opponents who present Tony with the same unique challenges as The Punisher, Margarito should be fine going forward.

And the less said about Joel Casamayor's "victory," the better. Jose Armando Santa Cruz got robbed by the judges, but he wasn't exactly impressive. That just made Casamayor's lackluster performance that much more depressing. Some really rugged fights over the past few years look like they've robbed him of most of his skills, and the right foe (sat, Juan Diaz) should be able to lift that Ring Magazine lightweight belt from him without too much trouble.