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This is the original recap of Cotto vs. Mosley.

HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

November 10, 2007

Madison Square Garden-New York City, New York

The winner of Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. may be looking to face the winner of this match, if they are unable to line up a match with Oscar de la Hoya.  (Both Hatton and Mayweather (who probably bet on the match) expect Mosley to win via unanimous decision.)

1. WBA Welterweight (147 pounds) 12 Round Championship Match:

Miguel Cotto (30-0, 25 KO's, 146.25 pounds) (c) vs. Shane Mosley (44-4 (1 NC), 37 KO's, 146.25 pounds)

The champion won this title when it was vacant over Carlos Quintana via technical knockout when Quintana did not answer the bell to start round 6, following a devastating body shot from Cotto on December 2, 2006 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  The previous champion was Hatton, who had vacated the title to return to the 140 pound division.  Cotto is making his third defense of this title.

Cotto had a decorated amateur career, that included representing Puerto Rico in boxing at the Sydney Summer Olympiad at 139 pounds.

The champion has become the most popular Puerto Rican boxer behind Felix Trinidad, because of an aggressive action packed style that is heavy on left hooks and body punching.  Drawing from a large Puerto Rican population in New York City Cotto has made MSG a second home for his boxing career.  The two largest crowds for boxing at the Garden in the last 6 years have been to see Cotto matches.  (His match versus Zab Judah in June drew 20,658 and this match is expected to draw over 19,000.)

The native of Caguas, Puerto Rico was in auto accident in 2001 where he injured his right arm.  There is still a titanium rod in the arm, and it can give him problems.  However, it should not be a factor in this match.

Cotto's last match was a somewhat controversial round 11 technical knockout victory over Judah on June 9, 2007 at MSG.  Cotto delivered a punishing left hand in round 1, and a powerful right hand in round 3 to Judah's groin.  The Brooklyn native was hurt and much less aggressive after the first foul, unable to get his wind back.  Judah was rolling around on the ground in tears after the second shot to his privates, and never fully recovered the entire match.  The victory was still a dominating win by Cotto, and the biggest win of his career.  However, it was a tainted victory.

The champion is the number 1 ranked contender at 147 by The Ring magazine to its champion at the weight class, Mayweather.  The Puerto Rican is the number 10 ranked pound-for-pound boxer by The Ring magazine, behind its number 1 ranked pound-for-pound best boxer, Mayweather.

Mosley had a decorated amateur career winning over 250 matches.  He won the 1992 United States Amateur Championships at 139 pounds.  The challenger missed the Olympic team that year, losing in the qualifiers to Vernon Forrest.  Following that loss Mosley turned pro on February 11, 1993 at 21-years-old.

The biggest wins in Mosley's career were 2 close decisions over de la Hoya.  The second victory came after Mosley had lost back-to-back matches to heavy underdog, and amateur nemesis, Vernon Forrest, and went to a no contest with Raul Marquez in his previous 3 matches.  SI.com reports that after those setbacks Mosley visited the infamous BALCO in July of 2003 prior to his September 13, 2003 match with de la Hoya.  Documents show Mosley had blood work done by BALCO on July 26.  The blood work showed Mosley had a red blood cell count (the cell's that oxygenate the blood for endurance) of 44.  Documents show a second blood test was conducted by BALCO on August 8.  Mosley's red blood cell count in that blood test was 52.2.  An average man of his age should have a count in the low 40's.  "Anything over 50 is considered off the charts," according to Gary Wadler of the World Anti-Doping Association in the story.  Mosley said that he dropped off a $1,500 check and never heard from BALCO, again, and that he is in to all natural products.  However, it is reported that he was taking EPO, which can only be taken as an injection, "the clear" (what Barry Bonds calls flax seed oil), and "the cream", which is the masking agent.  Mosley has never tested positive for steroids, but "the cream" would mask all of the doping agents.  Mosley won the second match with de la Hoya 7 rounds to 5 rounds on every scorecard, where Mosley's strength in the latter rounds from the extra endurance provided by the high red blood cell count could have been the difference.  (Thanks to Mike Sempervive for help on this research.)

The SI.com story broke on September 28, 2007, while Mosley was training for this match with Cotto.  However, Mosley says it has had no impact on his training, and that it is a 4-year-old story, because he testified in front of the grand jury investigating BALCO years ago.  However, not all of this information has become public before, now.  The challenger trains in the isolation of Big Bear, California.  Mosley says his distractions there consist of snowboarding during the winter, and league bowling on Tuesdays (he bowled a 206 on the HBO countdown special).

Mosley's last match was a blowout 12 round unanimous decision victory over Luis Collazo for the interim WBC Championship at 147 pounds at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las, Vegas, Nevada on February 10, 2007.  (Mosley has since vacated that championship to take this match.)

The challenger is the number 3 ranked contender by The Ring at 147 pounds.

Cotto has the age advantage at 27-years-old, compared to the 36-year-old Mosley.  Mosley has the height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Cotto stands 5' 8" tall.  The challenger has the reach advantage with an arm length of 25" measured from the armpit to the end of the fist, and the champion has a 23" arm length measured the same way.  Neither boxers unofficial weights approaching match time are available, however Cotto appears much larger in the ring.  Mosley will employ the orthodox stance, and even though Cotto is naturally lefthanded he too, will employ the orthodox stance.  Cotto is the 7-5 betting favorite in this match.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this match.  The referee is Benjy Esteves, Jr.  The judges home towns are not shown during the replay.  Since this is a replay, only the official judges' scores will be listed.

A slower paced round 1 for Cotto then usual, but he wins it on all of the judges' scorecards, 10-9.  With more then 1:30 to go in round 2, Mosley's right eye is beginning to swell.  The damage appears to be from repeated Cotto right jabs.  Cotto's right jab punch was not expected to be featured in this match, and that surprise factor may be contributing to Mosley's problems avoiding the punch.  Mosley lands some good right hands in the last minute of round 2 to win the round on 2 of the judges' scorecards, 10-9.  Cotto wins the other judge's scorecard in round 2 based on more action throughout the round, 10-9.  Both boxers trade power punches in round 3.  Mosley's power punches appear to be doing more damage then Cotto's, but Cotto appeared busier.  Two of the judges score round 3 for Mosley, 10-9, and the other scores it for Cotto, 10-9.  After 3 rounds the judges have Cotto winning by split decision: 29-28, 29-28, 28-29.

Cotto hit Mosley with some huge punches in round 4 that would have floored lesser boxers, but the challenger shook it off and stayed in front of the champion.  Cotto takes round 4 on all of the judges' scorecards, 10-9.  In round 4, Cotto landed 31 of the 69 total punches he threw for a 45% connect percentage.  In round 4, Mosley landed 24 of the 74 total punches he threw, for a 32% connect percentage.  Mosley wins round 5 on all of the judges' scorecards, 10-9.  Mosley is getting tired in round 6, and his hands are dropping.  The challengers left hand is dropping very low, which is opening him up to straight rights from the champion.  In round 6, the Mosley is no longer shaking off the effects of Cotto's punches, especially the unexpected right hand to the head.  All of the judges score round 6 for Cotto, 10-9.  The official scores have Cotto winning the match after 6 rounds via majority decision: 58-56, 58-56, 57-57.

Mosley switched up to try and box to stay away from Cotto instead of trade with the champion more in round 7.  This lead Cotto to turn southpaw at points to try and score points.    One judge scored scored round 7 for Mosley, 10-9.  Another gave the round to Cotto, 10-9.  The third scored the round even, 10-10.  Through 7 rounds, Cotto has landed 154 of the 416 total punches he has thrown for a 37% connect percentage.  Through 7 rounds, Mosley has landed 151 of the 453 total punches he has thrown for a 33% connect percentage.  In round 8, the crowd begins to boo Mosley for moving around on the outside.  That turned an exciting exchange of power punches into a relatively boring game of chase.  However, the style change has re-energized Mosley.  The challenger looks fresher, and is handling Cotto's power better.  Despite that, all of the judges score round 8 for Cotto, 10-9.  In round 9, there is some swelling developing around the left eye of Cotto.  The swelling appears to have been caused by Mosley right hands.  Cotto begins backing up with approximately 2 minutes to go in round 9, and spends the rest of the round in retreat.  He is either hurt or something is wrong with him.  Somehow, Cotto won round 9 on 2 of the judges' scorecards, 10-9, and Mosley won the round on the other judge's scorecard, 10-9.  After 9 rounds, Cotto is winning the match on all of the official scorecards: 88-83, 87-85, 86-85.

Cotto is in big trouble to start round 10, when Mosley has the champion pinned up against the ropes.  The Puerto Rican works his way off the ropes, but is still in danger of being knocked down.  Then, the referee halts the action to have water cleaned off the canvas in the corner where Cotto's stool sits between rounds, allowing the champion valuable time to recover.  That is a terrible job by the referee. For Mosley, the referee could not have picked a worse time in the entire match to stop the action.  After round 9, Cotto was saying there may be a cut inside his mouth that is bleeding into his mouth and throat.  That is impeding the champion's breathing and potentially causing him the trouble in rounds 9 and 10.  Cotto makes a comeback at the end of round 10, and wins it on one scorecard, 10-9.  Mosley wins round 10 on the other 2 judges' scorecards, 10-9.  Through 10 rounds, Cotto has landed 130 of the 335 power punches he has thrown, for a 39% power connect percentage.  Through 10 rounds, Mosley has landed 151 of the 277 power punches he has thrown, for an amazing 55% power connect percentage.  After round 10, Cotto's corner found the cut inside their boxer's mouth on the lower left side.  It appears it is a cut that the champion sustained in the match with Judah that has re-opened.  Cotto showcases several new skills in round 11.  The champion counterpunches better then he has in his entire career.  Cotto is also able to throw hard punches while going backwards, which is a skill he has never shown in the past.  It is still only good enough to win round 11 on 2 of the judges' scorecards, 10-9.  The other judge gives round 11 to Mosley, 10-9.  Through 11 rounds both boxers have landed 236 total punches.  With 1:47 to go in round 12, Mosley left foot slides on the painted advertising on the canvas, and he goes down to the mat.  It is correctly ruled a slip, and the action is restarted with 1:39 to go in the round.  With 30 seconds to go in the match there is blood coming from a cut above the right eye of Cotto.  The cut was probably caused by a headbutt, however the cut will play no factor in the waning moments of this match.  Cotto boxed out round 12 playing "prevent defense" assuming he had won the match, occasionally mixing in power punches when he could.  The crowd gave both boxers a well deserved standing ovation after the final bell sounded.

The official decision as read by Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored the match:  115-113, 115-113, 116-113, all for the winner, still undefeated, and still the WBA Welterweight Champion of the World, Miguel Cotto.  The win moves Cotto to 31-0, with 25 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The Final CompuBox numbers have Cotto landing 248 of the 675 total punches he threw, for a 37% total connect percentage.  The champion landed 98 of the 288 jabs he threw, for a 34% jab connect percentage.  The Puerto Rican landed 150 of the 387 power punches he threw, for a 39% power connect percentage.  Mosley landed 248 of the 774 total punches he threw, for a 32% connect percentage.  The resident of Pomona, California landed 71 of the 439 jabs he threw, for an awful 16% jab connect percentage.  Mosley landed 177 of the 335 power punches he threw, for an excellent 53% power connect percentage.

Cotto performed better then he has in any match in his career.  After this victory Cotto was moved up in the pound-for-pound rankings by The Ring magazine to number 7.  The champion's exciting style and improving skill set will leave him with plenty of challengers to draw money with immediately.  de la Hoya has said he will not face a Puerto Rican boxer, because of a promise to his (de la Hoya's) wife, who is a Puerto Rican singing star.  Therefore, a rematch of this match seems natural.  Mayweather and Hatton are not going to be able to sign to a match soon, until they are ruled out as de la Hoya's next opponent.  de la Hoya is not scheduled to choose his next opponent until the first quarter of 2008, which could keep them on hold for months.  Therefore, to stay active and get a big paycheck the only available option besides Mosley for Cotto is a rematch of his controversial victory over Judah.

Mosley performed very strong in this match, and his first thought has to be about a rematch with Cotto.  A slightly altered game plan could yield him a win in a rematch, and it would likely draw even more profitable then this match.  Mosley's hopes of a match with Mayweather are completely derailed by this loss, and the Californian is going to need a high profile win to get back on track for a match with Mayweather.  Cotto could be that high profile victory.

In a statistical oddity, this is the first match ever scored by CompuBox where both boxers landed the same number of total punches.  It is a great match, and this portion of the program is worth finding on a replay.