By Cliff Rold

July 2008 was not a one-fight month but Boxing fans, particularly in the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, could be forgiven for feeling like it was.  The Welterweight thriller that was Margarito-Cotto overwhelmed the Boxing calendar as much in the ring as it had in terms of anticipation in the weeks preceding it.

The rest of the month wasn’t bad either.  Wladimir Klitschko took another small step towards total claim to the Heavyweight championship…Daniel Santos put himself back in the thick of the Jr. Middleweight division with a single punch…Kendall Holt and Ricardo Torres put on one of the great single round brawls in history at Jr. Welterweight…and some surprising upsets dotted the lower landscape.

Already in August, a shallow pool of action on paper has produced a new Welterweight titlist in Joshua Clottey and the re-emergence of Vic Darchinyan at Jr. Bantamweight.  A thrilling World title rematch is still on tap at 108 lbs.  That, though, is for consideration a month from now.

Looking behind, this is BoxingScene’s June Review. 

Fighter of the Month:  Antonio Margarito

Let’s go ahead and state the obvious.  After years of carrying along as one of the game’s most consistent and consistently entertaining World-class Welterweights, Antonio Margarito finally got to the moment he’d always waited for and made it his…

…and boy did he ever.

Margarito reigned from 2002-2007 as WBO Welterweight champion and garnered more fame for the fight he didn’t get (Floyd Mayweather) than anything he did in the ring.  The win over Cotto, which netted him a WBA title, made him famous for better things.  It was an impressive walk down of the favored Cotto and a validation of a blue-collar warrior to whom full respect was long overdue.  Since his 2002 title win against Antonio Diaz, Margarito is 8-1 against Ring Magazine top ten contenders.  Number eight coming against the man universally hailed as number one at 147 lbs. laid lasting icing on the cake of his career.

With five months to go in the year, Margarito is the favorite to finish 2008 as the Fighter not only of July but all the year.

Fight of the Month:  Margarito-Cotto

The big fight is not as much of a lock.  It was good, very good in spots, but it fell just short of some of the all-time great battles in the Welterweight division.  It also fell short of the unreal standards set earlier this year by Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez III as far as Fight of the Year honors are likely to go.

None of that means Boxing didn’t get the sort of water cooler war it needed.  As good as the littler guys were earlier this year, Jr. Featherweight will never be Welterweight in the public conscious.  The history just isn’t there; it will always be catching up.  Margarito-Cotto was a fight that probably would have made Mickey Walker and Henry Armstrong nod approvingly, and that is high praise indeed.

The ever excellent Jake Donovan recapped the action here at BoxingScene (https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&opt=printable&id=15131):

Blood and violence was promised for months on end. The fight took all of a minute to deliver on the violence front, with the blood soon to follow.  Both fighters started off with the jab, but it was Cotto who landed the first significant combination of the fight, a flurry on the inside.

Margarito came back with an uppercut, but as showing Cotto respect, leading to his being thoroughly outworked over the course of the round. The final minute of the round ignited the crowd, though dominated by Cotto's crisper punches landing up the middle while Margarito was just a little too wide and slow in return.

Cotto picked up in the second exactly where he left off one minute prior – coming straight up the middle while easily getting out of harm's way when Margarito attempted to counter. That dynamic changed about a minute into the round, when Cotto got caught with a right hand that left him momentarily pinned along the ropes. Margarito took his attack downstairs, but caught several left hooks upstairs for his troubles. Blood began flowing from Cotto's nose, but didn't deter the Puerto Rican from ending the round with a shot upstairs. 

Mobility was the key for Cotto in the third round, effectively mixing boxing and brawling while attempting to minimize the blood flow from his nose and a small nick over his left eye. Margarito kept targeting the body, but drew two separate warnings for low blows in the span of less than a minute.

Margarito closed the gap enough in the fourth to enjoy perhaps his best round of the fight to that point. A right uppercut for the Mexican slowed down Cotto, though steadily returning fire. Margarito went back to the body, but Cotto was able to re-establish enough distance to counter his way down the stretch, even if not enough to steal the round.

A boxing match threatened to break out in the fifth, though that didn't last very long. Cotto offered plenty of side to side movement which frustrated Margarito until a right hand about a minute into the round. Cotto stayed on the move, standing and trading on occasion, but only in landing a flurry before immediately getting out of harm's way. Margarito landed a straight right that had Cotto temporarily unsteady at the ten-second ticker, but the Puerto Rican went into Pernell Whitaker mode, slipping all of the ensuing shots until the final bell.

Margarito wasn't landing a lot, but remained the busier fighter in riding momentum into the sixth round. 

A left hook to the body had Cotto on the defensive early in the seventh, but was able to flurry his way out of danger. A right hand upstairs stopped Margarito in his tracks, but the Mexican refused to wilt, coming back with fire power of his own, forcing Cotto to clinch. His face now a mask of blood, Cotto was forced to fight back, which only gave Margarito more confidence as the round – and fight – wore on. Margarito had Cotto under siege for much of the round, unloading to the tune of 130 punches in the three-minute frame according to Compubox.

Cotto was urged by his corner in between rounds to stay off the ropes. He obliged, offering lateral movement though paying the price in not gaining as much leverage on his punches. The plan worked for about 2:30 of the round, before Margarito was able to pin him in the corner down the stretch. A right hand by Cotto enabled him to escape harm's way, moving backwards as the eighth came to a close.

It was more of the same in the ninth, with Cotto flipping back and forth between southpaw and conventional stance while fighting in reverse. Margarito kept charging forward, hoping to come through with the shot that would keep his foe stationary. Those moments came in the second half of the round, though Cotto would counter enough to avoid a firefight. 

The bout had to eventually slow down; that moment finally came in the tenth. The same pattern applied as in the previous two rounds, Margarito charging forward, Cotto staying mobile seeking counter opportunities to maintain space between the two. Margarito immediately closed the gap in the last fifteen seconds, landing a left hook, left uppercut and right hand that trapped Cotto on the ropes, leaving him open for an ensuing volley.

Trainer Evangelista Cotto told his nephew he needed to win the final two rounds to pull out the fight. Not only would that not happen, but Cotto wouldn't even last long enough to hear instructions for another round.

A left uppercut by Margarito midway through the round had Cotto stuck in the mud, left defenseless as he took a right uppercut and two right hands that sent him to the canvas. Margarito got in one last lick while Cotto was on a knee, but drew no warning from referee Kenny Bayless who issued a mandatory eight count.

Cotto got up but was all but done. Such became evident moments later, when Cotto once again went down, despite Margarito not landing another punch. Bayless moved in to count, but would never reach eight – Cotto was done for the night, confirmed by his uncle/trainer, who climbed on to the ring apron, white towel in tow.

The official time was 2:05 of round eleven.

Critical Results

Including the official result from the Fight of the Month, we now take a look back at the most notable action around the world for the rest of July’s 31 days.

Using a formula inspired by the college football BCS, we’ve been compiling quarterly divisional ratings at Boxing Scene since the beginning of the year.  The third quarter lists were published on July 7th and these are the critical results from the month of July with a few days of August and remainder of the August contenders and champions schedule thrown in for good measure. Full ratings can be found at: https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/view.php?pg=boxing-ratings 

Heavyweight (201 lbs. – Unlimited)
07/12: #1 Wladimir Klitschko (51-3, 45 KO, IBF) W KO11 #9 Tony Thompson (31-2, 19 KO)
07/19: #5 Alexander Povetkin (16-0, 12 KO) W TKO4 Taurus Sykes (25-5-1, 7 KO)

Scheduled for August
08/30: #4 Nicolay Valuev (48-1, 34 KO) vs. #6 John Ruiz (43-7-1, 29 KO)

Cruiserweight (176-200 lbs.)
07/11: #3 Tomasz Adamek (35-1, 24 KO) W RTD7 Gary Gomez (18-10-1, 7 KO)

No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in August.

Light Heavyweight (169-175 lbs.)
07/03: #7 Hugo Garay (31-3, 17 KO) W UD12 Yuri Barashian (25-4, 17 KO) for vacant WBA title

No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in August.

Super Middleweight (161-168 lbs.)
07/23: #7 Jeff Lacy (24-1, 17 KO) W MD10 Epifanio Mendoza (28-6-1, 24 KO)
07/24: #8 Denis Inkin (33-0, 24 KO) W UD6 Sergey Beloshapkin (6-2, 2 KO)
07/30: #3 Anthony Mundine (33-3, 23 KO) W UD10 Crazy Kim (28-5, 24 KO)

No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in August.

Middleweight (155-160 lbs.)
07/05: #9 Sebastian Zbik (23-0, 9 KO) W TKO2 Mario Lopez (22-5, 19 KO)
07/05: #2 Felix Sturm (30-2-1, 13 KO) W UD12 #5 Randy Griffin (24-2-3, 12 KO)

Scheduled for August
08/30: #8 Amin Asikainen (24-1, 16 KO) vs. Claudio Abalos (18-10-2, 5 KO)

Jr. Middleweight (148-154 lbs.)
07/11: Daniel Santos (32-3-1, 23 KO, WBA) W KO6 Joachim Alcine (30-1, 19 KO)
07/11: #7 Alex Bunema (30-5-2, 16 KO) W KO6 Walter Matthysse (26-4, 25 KO)

Scheduled for August
08/13: #9 Joel Julio (33-1, 30 KO) vs. Jose Varela (23-3, 16 KO)

Welterweight (141-147 lbs.)
07/26: #2 Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KO, WBA) W TKO11 #1 Miguel Cotto (32-1, 26 KO)

Already Completed in August
08/02: #6 Joshua Clottey (35-2, 20 KO, IBF) W TD9 #8 Zab Judah (36-6, 25 KO)

Jr. Welterweight (136-140 lbs.)
07/05: #3 Kendall Holt (24-2, 13 KO, WBO) W KO1 #6 Ricardo Torres (32-2, 28 KO)
07/30: Sebastian Lujan (30-5-2, 20 KO) W UD10 #9 Jose Luis Castillo (56-9-1, 48 KO); bout fought at Welterweight

No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in August.

Lightweight (131-135 lbs.)
07/23: #10 Jose Armando Santa Cruz (26-3, 15 KO) W KO5 Miguel Munguia (16-13-1, 13 KO)

No BoxingScene rated fighters scheduled to compete in August.

Jr. Lightweight (127-130 lbs.)
No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in July.

Scheduled for August
08/29: #7 Mzonke Fana (27-4, 10 KO) vs. Ruben Estanislao (18-10-3, 3 KO)
08/30: #10 Roman Martinez (19-0-1, 11 KO) vs. Santos Benavides (14-1, 12 KO)

Featherweight (123-126 lbs.)
No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in July or are scheduled to compete in August.
 
Jr. Featherweight (119-122 lbs.)
No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in July

Already Completed in August
08/01: #5 Jhonny Gonzalez (39-6, 33 KO) W TKO1 Levi Brea (16-7-3, 8 KO)

Scheduled for August
08/29: #4 Steve Molitor (27-0, 10 KO, IBF) vs. Ceferino Labarda (18-0, 7 KO)
08/30: #9 Rey Bautista (25-1, 18 KO) vs. Eden Marquez (16-3-3, 12 KO)

Bantamweight (116-118 lbs.)
No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in July or are scheduled to compete in August.

Jr. Bantamweight (113-115 lbs.)
07/26: Rafael Concepcion (11-2-1, 7 KO) W KO10 #10 AJ Banal (17-1-1, 14 KO)

Already Completed in August
08/03: #7 Vic Darchinyan (30-1-1, 24 KO, IBF) W KO5 #3 Dimitri Kirilov (29-4-1, 9 KO)

Scheduled for August
08/30: #1 Cristian Mijares (35-3-2, 14 KO, WBC/WBA) vs. Chatchai Sasakul (64-3, 39 KO)

Flyweight (109-112 lbs.)
07/12: #6 Koki Kameda (18-0, 12 KO) W TKO2 Marino Montiel (30-13-1, 16 KO)
07/25: #10 Julio Cesar Miranda (27-3-1, 20 KO) W RTD6 Julio Grimaldo (2-15-1)
07/30: World Champion Daisuke Naito (33-2-3, 21 KO, Lineal/WBC) W KO10 Tomonobu Shimizu (13-3, 5 KO)
07/30: #3 Takefumi Sakata (33-4-2, 15 KO, WBA) W UD12 Hiroyuki Hisataka (16-7-1, 5 KO)

Scheduled for August
08/11: #7 Wandee Singwancha (56-8-1, 12 KO) vs. Takahisa Masuda (18-7-3, 4 KO)
08/30: #6 Koki Kameda vs. Salvador Montes (5-4, 2 KO)

Jr. Flyweight (106-108 lbs.)
07/12: #1 Ulises Solis (27-1-2, 20 KO, IBF) W UD12 Glenn Donaire (17-4-1, 9 KO)
07/13: Oscar Ibarra (14-2, 7 KO) W TKO6 #9 Adrian Hernandez (13-1-1, 11 KO)
07/26: Cesar Canchila (27-1, 21 KO) W UD12 #4 Giovanni Segura (19-1-1, 15 KO)

Scheduled for August
08/30: World Champion Ivan Calderon (31-0, 6 KO, Lineal/ Ring/WBO) vs. #5 Hugo Cazares (26-4-1, 19 KO)

Strawweight (105 lbs.)
No BoxingScene rated fighters competed in July.

Scheduled for August
08/30: #4 Donnie Nietes (22-1-3, 13 KO, WBO) vs. Eddy Castro (12-3-1, 9 KO)

Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com