By Radio Rahim
Las Vegas - Former two division world champion Bernard Hopkins believes the beating that Miguel Cotto took at the hands of Antonio Margarito will resurface on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay.
Back in July of 2008, Margarito started slow, but came back in the later rounds to severely punish Cotto for a knockout win in the eleventh.
Less than a year later, there was speculation that Margarito loaded his gloves for that bout - after the Mexican veteran was caught with illegal inserts in his hand wraps - prior to his January 2009 showdown with Shane Mosley.
Cotto had a rematch with Margarito in December of 2011 and won by TKO in nine rounds.
This Saturday, Cotto (40-4, 33KOs) will face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (45-1-1, 32KOs) at a catch-weight of 155-pounds. Canelo is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, where Hopkins is a partner and shareholder.
"You have to understand, he really got beat...even though it wasn't legit, even though it wasn't clean - but that was wear and tear that takes years off of any fighter. And I'm saying to you Rahim, when you look at that, and there tough fights here and there.....the accumulation," Hopkins told BoxingScene.com.
"I went back and watched the Margarito fight a few times. I never thought he would be on that super-level for a long time. But he bounced back and showed resilience and came back and won some big fights. But I believe that on Saturday night on HBO Pay-Per-View - all that he know, [because of that accumulation of punishment] he is always going to be two or three steps back of Canelo."
