Joey Santana
NY Boxing Examiner
Every once in a while, the world corrects itself and things return to exactly as they should be. 3 ½ years ago in Las Vegas, Antonio Margarito (38-8 27 KO`s) cheated his way to another one of his victories, this time over Miguel Cotto. You read that correctly, I said another one. Don’t be naïve and think this was the only time it happened. In July of 2008 Miguel Cotto suffered the first loss of his career and the loss of his WBA welterweight title to the hands of Margarito. Six months later, questions arose about Margarito`s victory over Cotto after Margarito was caught with loaded handwraps entering his January 2009 fight with Shane Mosley. Tonight in the Mecca of Boxing, New York City`s Madison Square Garden, all those questions were answered. Margarito definitely cheated. I now know this because Margarito is a better boxer today than he was in 2008 and got taken to school tonight by Cotto.
The fight was eerily similar to the first go round, except Margarito`s punches didn’t have that same sting to them (or should I say cement) in the middle rounds where he took over before stopping Cotto in round 11. Call it running, boxing or moving effectively, but I`ll call it Miguel out working Marga-Cheato in a classic boxer – puncher style that wowed the crowd, the judges and anyone with a set of eyeballs. He set up punches, sat down on power shots and bombed the Tijuana Tornado all night long. His main target, Margarito`s right eye that was badly damaged in the fight vs Pacquiao last November but was cleared by the New York State Boxing Commission and two doctors as fit for him to fight. Cotto tagged the eye early and often with a stiff left jab and a beautiful left hook. Margarito`s right eye was bloodied by the third round and swollen by the seventh. In interviews leading up to the fight, Cotto said the right eye would be his main target and made good on his word by landing 86 of his 210 shots on the right side of Margarito`s face.
Antonio must be given a good amount of credit by continuing to come forward, applying pressure and making a one sided fight entertaining, as Cotto often retreated to safe ground to find comfortable space to put his punches together. But as the rounds piled up on the scorecards for Cotto, the swelling piled up on Margarito`s right eye and face. By the Ninth round, the ring Dr. Anthony Curreri was in Margarito`s corner checking his vision, to see if he was able to go on, but Margarito`s right eye was completely swollen shut and the bout was called to a halt. Referee Steve Smoger tried to sift through the confusion in Margaarito`s corner, but was officially told to stop the fight as Margarito`s corner pleaded for one more round. In front of over 21,000 mostly rabid Puerto Rican boxing fans, Miguel Cotto had finally avenged his first loss with a 10 round TKO victory. Cotto`s face was not without its share of blemishes, Margarito`s short uppercuts on the inside did its share of damage, but as Miguel said after the fight when asked the $64,000 question in the post fight interview, How did Margarito`s punches feel tonight as compared to 2008? Miguel replied "I'm still awake. That's my answer," he said "After nine, 10 rounds, I'm still on my feet."
Margarito complained after the fight in his interview with HBO`s Max Kellerman that he could continue and that Cotto “still hits like a girl”, but his right eye said otherwise needing 12 stitches to repair the damage. Cotto landed 210 of 493 (43%) of his overall punches to Margarito`s 157 of 700 (22%) and a whopping 148 of 293 (51%) of his power shots. Miguel Cotto (37-2* 30 KO`s, notice the asterisk) said after the fight that he would take a few weeks off and then come back to the table to talk boxing. With the second defense of his WBA super world light middleweight title and this huge victory in his back pocket, and being recognized as the king of the Jr middleweight division, Cotto has an exciting future ahead of him. Rumor has it that Cotto can dump Bob Arum and Top Rank once his contract expires and seek out a super fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr or even Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, as both are represented by Oscar De La Hoya`s Golden Boy Promotions. The future for Cotto is bright, but like they say “nothing is set in Cement”!
Joey Santana can be reached via email: theboxingkidd@verizon.net
