In one of the many superfights taking place this winter, Sugar Shane Mosley takes on Miguel Cotto tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Cotto’s WBA Welterweight title will be on the line, and most expect the young knockout artist to continue his string of wins against the older Mosley.

… I’m not one of those people.

Miguel Cotto has the heart of a champion, but his chin is suspect and his defense is spotty at best. I’ve witnessed Miguel win fights off his heart and incredible offense alone, bulling his way into the fight until his opponents wilted under the pressure. While tactics like that work on lesser fighters like Carlos Quintana and overhyped bullies like Zab Judah, Shane Mosley is a world class boxer. I’m not even a fan of Mosley, but I respect the skills he has.

In all four of Mosley’s defeats, he was matched up against bigger fighters who overpowered him and nullified his skills with their physicality. Cotto doesn’t have the size of Vernon Forrest or Winky Wright. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Shane Mosley fight where he was outboxed, so when you couple the fact that Miguel Cotto is not a big fighter, with his questionable defense, this doesn’t look good for him. Heart alone will not defeat Shane, just ask Fernando Vargas.

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