by David P. Greisman

Twelve days before he is supposed to face Antonio Margarito at Madison Square Garden, Miguel Cotto told reporters that he won’t face Margarito unless the fight takes place in New York City

“I sign this fight for New York. I didn’t sign this fight for somewhere else,” Cotto said Tuesday afternoon on a media conference call. “I’m going to fight in New York. I’m not going to fight in another place. Just in New York. I’m not going to present myself in any other state or any other commission but the New York State Athletic Commission.”

The talk in the past week has been about whether New York would license Margarito due to concerns about the cataract surgery he had following his loss last year to Manny Pacquiao. With that ruling being decided this afternoon, promoter Top Rank has been looking at other states for a last-minute change of venue, including Arizona and Colorado.

Cotto, however, said other states shouldn’t circumvent whatever ruling New York’s athletic commission makes.

“If the people of the New York commission said Margarito is not able to fight because of his eyes, everybody has to respect that and any commission in the U.S. has to respect that,” Cotto said. “I’m not going to fight anywhere else.”

Bob Arum of Top Rank said he didn’t know what Cotto’s stance means for the show — he said such issues would only be discussed if and when the New York State Athletic Commission makes its decision.

David P. Greisman is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow David on Twitter at twitter.com/fightingwords2 or on Facebook at facebook.com/fightingwordsboxing, or send questions and comments to fightingwords1@gmail.com