Comments Thread For: When Antonio Margarito rocked Miguel Cotto

[Brother Mouzone]

Paulie Malignaggi.

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[TintaBoricua]

I was (or actually still AM) a colossal Cotto fan. I remember spending an unhealthy amount of fan on these boards during the two weeks or week leading into this rematch (I actually started watching boxing when Cotto made his debut at 147 in December 2006 on Showtime against Carlos Quintana with Clottey/Margarito in the co-main).

I distinctly remember there was a even a live feed into the legal proceedings when NYSAC (at the last minute) was debating on whether or not to allow Margarito (with his eye condition) to fight in New York. I watched that. That’s how absolutely superglued I was to this whole saga.

I remember being tremendously excited for the fight but not necessarily excited for its competitiveness. Off the top of my head (I’m not even looking this up), Cotto was (4-1, 3 KO’s) and Margarito was (1-2, 0 KO’s) between their first match and the second one. Fighting in the Garden, with his eye condition, his general inactivity…there were too many tangents for me to consider Margarito as a huge threat. I remember posting and saying, “They’re going to be at the Garden, Cotto will be able to fire off a five punch combination where only two land and the crowd will be eating it up. Cotto just has to box and not sit on the ropes as he did in the first.”

What unfolded that night was (til this day) my fondest memory of watching a fight party with friends and family. I watched that fight multiple times (as I even did with the first when it first took place July 26, ‘08).

Some takeaways I’ve had regarding Cotto/Margarito, their careers, and them individually now almost two decades since they first tussled:

*The first fight was neck and neck with a slight advantage to Margarito in the last third of the fight. Cotto was bombing away and landing the more eye catching combinations with the belief that eventually that chin would erode…it didn’t. Margarito and Cotto gave us one of the most violent, grueling affairs in modern boxing. Margarito was investing all his stock downstairs and, coupled with Cotto’s higher tempo than usual, spelled doom for Miguel in the later half. Even if Cotto hadn’t taken a knee in the 11th, Margarito was going to leave that ring with a close unanimous decision. If I’m not mistaken (and again, everything is off of memory), going into the conclusive 11th round, I’m almost positive one judge had it even, with the other two having Margarito ahead. The momentum belonged to Margarito. A lot of people gave Cotto grief for quitting, but any sensible individual would give that man a pass. This wasn’t like Rigondeaux or Nicholas Walters just electing to call it off (years later) against Loma. Cotto looked like he had absolutely nothing left and I firmly believe that if he had backed up into that corner and not taken that second knee, we would’ve seen an ending similar to Taylor/Pavlik 1.

The Controversy: Margarito/Capetillo (the team in general) really crapped the bed when the whole January 2009 handwrap scandal broke. Every Cotto fan and Puerto Ricans in general felt vindicated because they naturally assumed that this wasn’t the first time Margarito had been involved in this. And while at first I jumped on that train, I’ve lately come to meet it with a plausibility label. I don’t know either way.

Two things: that particular photo of Margarito being carried on his team’s shoulder celebrating post fight in the first Cotto bout…the glove looks like it’s cracked and everybody points to it as a picture with a cracked cast. Now when I look at it, all I see is a cast with a solitary black thread that gives the illusion of a broken cast.

Second, the “go to” sound piece that “Margarito’s power disappeared” post scandal is a bit misleading. Margarito was never a gargantuan puncher above 147, he didn’t have a wide body of work post 2009, and when he DID fight, he generally fought tough fighters. He might’ve not knocked down his opponents (post 2009), but it’s not exactly like they left the ring unscathed either. Both Cotto in the rematch and Pacquiao (despite winning nearly every round against Antonio), they were really marked up at the ends of the fight (Pacquiao especially). Shane Mosley was perhaps one of the very few fighters who completely neutralized Margarito and never even let Margarito get momentum going. For the rest, Margarito really marked them up (even post 2009).

In regards to the rematch: The fight WAS night and day. Cotto was not loading up as frequently as he was in the first fight. He targeted the eye but he wasn’t expending his stamina in the first four/five rounds like he did in the first. Cotto was a lot more mobile, stayed off the ropes and, most importantly, was tying Margarito up. I DO agree with some in here that Cotto was looking really tired at the end of the ninth round, but I DO NOT think he was going to get stopped. Does anybody legitimately think Cotto was going to pull the plug and flutter out in the Garden…to Tony?! I could be wrong (I don’t remember the judges’ scorecards by the ninth), but I’m almost positive thinking that if Cotto had decided to just coast and give up the final three rounds, he still would’ve won on points. If I’m not mistaken, he could’ve even gotten knocked down a couple times down the stretch and he still would’ve won. Margarito knew Cotto was tiring, but I think Cotto was SOOOOOOOOO up that Margarito only chance to win was to take him out. And I don’t think he could’ve. This wasn’t Chavez/Taylor.

Now if you’ll excuse me, gonna’ go play some Marvel vs. Capcom 2…

[MalevolentBite]

Is this a trick question or are you actually asking this for real?

How could Cotto possibly get that fight changed to a no contest?

Man you follow me every where. Its like 3 times a day lol.

In other sports such as baseball once you get caught cheating all of your records are revoked and no longer legitimate. It should be the same here. His faced looked bad after that fight. He was never beaten bad like that ever. Makes you think. Of course he could had dodge and went to the body but still.

[MalevolentBite]

There was no real proof but a photo after the fight.

In other sports once you get caught cheating all of your records are revoked. It should be the same here. His faced looked bad after that fight. He was never beaten bad like that ever. Makes you think. Of course he could had dodge and went to the body but still.

[MalevolentBite]

Because he got the brakes beat off him fair and square

He did suffer a beatdown but honestly its still a question if that was that a honest beat down. That fight never sat right with me even before the Mosley fight. Something was off that whole fight. Even the way he was walking through cotto.

[MalevolentBite]

This scumbag and his trainer should be wiped from the history of boxing. Their names removed from the record books as if they never existed. What they did is the worst thing that you can do in a boxing ring. I wish nothing but the worst in life to both of them.

^^^^^ seee. And people act like this isnt the thing in most sports.

[IronDanHamza]

Man you follow me every where. Its like 3 times a day lol.

In other sports such as baseball once you get caught cheating all of your records are revoked and no longer legitimate. It should be the same here. His faced looked bad after that fight. He was never beaten bad like that ever. Makes you think. Of course he could had dodge and went to the body but still.

Ok so I’ll just ask you again since you’ve not answered it;

How could Cotto possibly get that fight changed to a no contest?

I don’t care about “most sports” this is boxing, it’s not a team sport for starters. Are you aware of how the sport of boxing works and it’s rules? It doesn’t seem that you are.

[Spray_resistant]

Why is it so hard to accept that Margarito was just too big, too much pressure, and too durable in the first fight with Cotto result in him breaking Cotto down? Did anyone actually read the report on what was in his wraps? It was not plaster just "some of the elements that could be used to make plaster". There is no evidence at all that he ever had loaded wraps in any fight.

[STREET CLEANER]

In other sports once you get caught cheating all of your records are revoked. It should be the same here. His faced looked bad after that fight. He was never beaten bad like that ever. Makes you think. Of course he could had dodge and went to the body but still.

I thought Margo was loaded in that fight too and before that. He nearly rip an ear off of some fighter. Cintron has said that no one has hit him as hard as Margarito hit him.

[Gary Coleman]

It didn't have a bloodstain Mosley and his coach ****m literally saw a piece of concrete fall out the guys padding you fvkcing idiot


How the **** you gonna use the same wrap from a previous fight? Fvkcing idiot lmfao

Yes. You, Margarito and his team are f'n idiots.