Tweet
I have come to this conclusion regarding Margarito. I think he is still legit and will sill beat Cotto. I wouldnt be shocked at all if Cotto won but as of right now I would still favor Margarito. What none of us know is how much he will be affected by all those head shots that Mosley landed and him being stopped for the 1st time in his career but my basic point is that he was the same exact guy in the Mosley fight that he was in the Cotto fight.
The only differnce is that Mosley is just a horrible matchup for him. Even at Margarito's best, he's still a guy with a ton more flaws then a normal elite guy would have so its not shocking to see him get destroyed by a guy like Mosley who has the perfect skill set to take advantage of those flaws. As far as the wraps go, I dont know if he cheated or not but if you rewatch the fight alot and look closely you can still see that he was throwing some shots with some solid force against Shane but he just couldnt land much because of Shane's speed and the fact that he had to be alot more defensive then normal. I compare his hand wraps thing to Tito. Even after the Hopkins fight, Tito still showed himself to have some solid power I think its safe to say. It may not have been like it was but it was still better then most guys and I think its the same for Margarito. He's not a 1 punch guy like Tito though anyways so it probably wont affect him as much.
I still favor him over Cotto because there were still times in the Mosley fight where he was coming forward with great momentum and throwing some hard shots but Shane would just quickly stop it every time. Can Cotto do that? One huge thing about that fight was how Shane manhandled him from the opening bell in the clinches. Can Cotto do that? Its not really his style and after this Mosley fight, Im sure Margarito will try alot harder to be more physical in the clinch. Will Cotto tie up Margarito in spots like Shane did and if so then can he be strong in the clinch, and can he just flat out be as effective as Shane was when doing it? Then there were a few occasions in that fight where Mosley couldnt clinch, Margarito was gaining momentum, and Shane just got rough with blistering combos and came to Margarito. Can Cotto do that? Shane has a beast chin and maybe the best will in the business. Does Cotto have those things, e****ally after being stopped in the last fight. Mosley stood toe to toe with Margarito, never ran, and stayed inside alot. Can Cotto fight that way against Margarito without getting hurt alot?
You still have to remember that with all things equal, Margarito still knows that he knocked Cotto out and Cotto knows that he was knocked out. I also think in some ways that the Mosley fight may hurt Cotto because now if the fight starts and its tough after a few rounds, Cotto may start to question himself since Mosley dominated him and everyone said Margarito may be done. I think that could play in Cotto's head if he's not totally dominant early. What about when Cotto's team makes sure that the gloves arent loaded but when the fight starts, he finds out that the punches still hurt. Thats another mental hurdel to overcome. I just think its still a scary fight that I wouldnt let happened if I was Arum. Its a lose-lose situation either way and there's still a great chance that your golden boy in Cotto could lose back to back fights against Margarito while still no one beleives that Margarito can beat Shane, Williams, and maybe not even Clottey now. I still think Margarito is legit, I still favor him against Cotto, but I still think he's a highly flawed guy who will still always lose to Mosley, Williams, and proabably Clottey
The only differnce is that Mosley is just a horrible matchup for him. Even at Margarito's best, he's still a guy with a ton more flaws then a normal elite guy would have so its not shocking to see him get destroyed by a guy like Mosley who has the perfect skill set to take advantage of those flaws. As far as the wraps go, I dont know if he cheated or not but if you rewatch the fight alot and look closely you can still see that he was throwing some shots with some solid force against Shane but he just couldnt land much because of Shane's speed and the fact that he had to be alot more defensive then normal. I compare his hand wraps thing to Tito. Even after the Hopkins fight, Tito still showed himself to have some solid power I think its safe to say. It may not have been like it was but it was still better then most guys and I think its the same for Margarito. He's not a 1 punch guy like Tito though anyways so it probably wont affect him as much.
I still favor him over Cotto because there were still times in the Mosley fight where he was coming forward with great momentum and throwing some hard shots but Shane would just quickly stop it every time. Can Cotto do that? One huge thing about that fight was how Shane manhandled him from the opening bell in the clinches. Can Cotto do that? Its not really his style and after this Mosley fight, Im sure Margarito will try alot harder to be more physical in the clinch. Will Cotto tie up Margarito in spots like Shane did and if so then can he be strong in the clinch, and can he just flat out be as effective as Shane was when doing it? Then there were a few occasions in that fight where Mosley couldnt clinch, Margarito was gaining momentum, and Shane just got rough with blistering combos and came to Margarito. Can Cotto do that? Shane has a beast chin and maybe the best will in the business. Does Cotto have those things, e****ally after being stopped in the last fight. Mosley stood toe to toe with Margarito, never ran, and stayed inside alot. Can Cotto fight that way against Margarito without getting hurt alot?
You still have to remember that with all things equal, Margarito still knows that he knocked Cotto out and Cotto knows that he was knocked out. I also think in some ways that the Mosley fight may hurt Cotto because now if the fight starts and its tough after a few rounds, Cotto may start to question himself since Mosley dominated him and everyone said Margarito may be done. I think that could play in Cotto's head if he's not totally dominant early. What about when Cotto's team makes sure that the gloves arent loaded but when the fight starts, he finds out that the punches still hurt. Thats another mental hurdel to overcome. I just think its still a scary fight that I wouldnt let happened if I was Arum. Its a lose-lose situation either way and there's still a great chance that your golden boy in Cotto could lose back to back fights against Margarito while still no one beleives that Margarito can beat Shane, Williams, and maybe not even Clottey now. I still think Margarito is legit, I still favor him against Cotto, but I still think he's a highly flawed guy who will still always lose to Mosley, Williams, and proabably Clottey
Comment