By Tom Donelson (photo by Tom Casino/Showtime)
When he stepped through the ropes in Atlantic City, Antonio Margarito defeated Joshua Clottey in his usual style, through a grinding down process that wears an opponent out. It didn’t hurt that Clottey possibly broke his left hand in the fourth round, thus disabling his number one weapon. In the first four rounds, Clottey's left hook found its target on about every part of Margarito's body. Clottey shot three and four punch combinations, included the hook to the body, to the head and back to body.
Margarito had no answer until Clottey gave him the solution. Once Clottey injured his hand and his left was eliminated as a weapon, Margarito ripped body shot after body shot to wear Clottey down. Clottey's only answer was his right and this wasn’t going to be the punch to win this fight.
Margartio won the fight, but there was nothing to show that he would prove a threat to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Clottey showed Margarito as a defensive liability and Margarito's strategy of throwing punches in bunches to overcome his defensive flaws may not work against a more elusive fighter like Mayweather.
However, Margarito may have found his big money fight as Miguel Cotto crushed Carlos Quintana in the main event of the very same card. In his first fight as a Welterweight, Cotto found himself in the ring with a very slick boxer. In Quintana's last fight, the Puerto Rican gave the hard punching Joel Julio a boxing lesson as he pitched a shut out, embarrassing the young Columbian in the process.
In the first four rounds, Quintana's boxing skills provided difficulty to Cotto as he attempted to trap his oppoent. Cotto alternated between cutting off the ring to occasionally following Quintana around, but as the first four rounds progressed, Cotto began to inch closer to his prey.
While boxing skills and tactics gave Cotto difficulty, Cotto’s power started to mark up his opponent’s face even at times when he was being out punched. Quintana's power did not bother Cotto, but Cotto’s power got Quintana's attention very quickly. Quintana's punching accuracy failed to slow Cotto down, and in the fifth round, Cotto showed why he is one of the more exciting fighters today.
Quintana slowed up just enough for Cotto's power punching combinations to change the momentum of the fight. With a minute left, a left hook to the body sent Quintana crumbling to the canvas, and the expression on his face showed more than concern; it showed a fighter who knew that his time was near.
He struggled to get up, but part of the struggle was as much due to Quintana's lack of desire to face the inevitable. Cotto went after his prey and let loose a barrage that sent Quintana down once more. Once again, Quintana struggled to get up and only the bell saved him for the moment.
In his corner between fifth and sixth rounds, Quintana's cornermen begged him for one more round. But, the last sixty seconds of the fifth sealed his fate and Quintana knew that one more round wouldn’t matter. The fight ended with Quintana sitting on the stool, refusing to come out for the sixth round.
Cotto fought his best fight against an excellent boxer and now the way is cleared for a Margarito-Cotto showdown. Both men have a share of the welterweight championship and with Mayweather fighting De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton back as a junior welterweight; these are the two best Welterweights in the sport.
For Margarito, this may be the best option for him. There is money to be made and Margarito's style may be better suited to Cotto than to Mayweather. The last time Margarito fought a young, undefeated Puerto Rican slugger, he slaughtered Kermit Cintron in easy fashion. Cotto, like Margarito, has his defensive liability and if nothing else, this fight would be an entertaining slugfest.
Margarito has found his big money opponent and Cotto has found the perfect foe to make his mark in another division. That is why Margarito-Cotto is a natural fight. The best thing that both fighters can do is dispatch their mandatory opponents and settle matters with each other to prove who is the best fighter at 147-pounds.
