MIGUEL COTTO - JOSHUA CLOTTEY PREVIEW

Miguel Cotto takes on Joshua Clottey in a welterweight showdown at Madison Square Garden on June 13.

Miguel Cotto is a very physically strong welterweight. He has one of the best left hooks to the body in the sport. As his fights go on, he wears out his opponents with a ferocious body attack. He can go toe-to-toe, but has a tendency in recent fights to lean inside and get tagged with uppercuts. He is a decent boxer with a good jab and underrated hand speed. Cotto's lone defeat came in a war with Antonio Margarito (TKO'd 11). Cotto's record is 33-1, 27 KO's.

Joshua Clottey always comes to the ring in great shape. He can take a great punch and looks to counter his opponents. He has never been stopped. Clottey has shown to counter opponents well with uppercuts on the inside and has a good straight right. Clottey is solid defensively and covers up well to weather the storm against fighters who throw a high volume of punches. He waits and tries to land his punches in spots. Clottey has won 8 of his last 9 fights. His record is 35-2, 20 KO's.

What to look for?

Clottey will pressure forward and Cotto will box early on in the fight. Cotto will try to land stiff left jabs and try to attack Clottey's body with combinations as Clottey covers up. The middle of the fight will possess good exchanges with hard punching. When they exchange in close quarters, Clottey will throw punches in spots, especially his uppercut. Cotto will land shots to his body. Clottey may not land as much as Cotto in this fight, but he will make his punches count and may stun Cotto a few times. Cotto probably will try and box Clottey if the fight goes on into the later rounds.

Prediction: Cotto will out land Clottey with mostly body shots, use his jab and box well enough in the later rounds to come away with a 12 round unanimous decision victory.