Comments Thread For: Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II: Pre-Fight Report Card

[mshap]

Margarito by a 6th round TKO -- he has more left that Cotto, who has been going downhill for years -- a younger and much more in his prime Cotto couldn't hurt Margarito and couldn't get out of the way of his punches -- no reason to think that will change now....

[JSS]

I got Cotto by SD - don't know if Cotto has the power at 154 to KO Margo but Cotto has the skills to win rounds by points.

[Osirus022]

Cotto HAS to make Marg take backward steps at times....he HAS to put something extra into those left hooks and right hands to get Marg's respect...he HAS to land his left hook to the body....these things are a MUST!!!....if he does those things, he'll toy with, torture, humiliate and then stop Marg around the 10th.....Cotto can't get cute like he did in their first fight, at some point he gotta back dude up and let him know this aint 2008....its a new day bro!!

Say no more

[StrangerInTown]

The Racket Squad: And Justice For....?

Barry Bonds cheated his way to the Home Run record but he will never be a Hall of Famer.
Margarito will make millions based on his criminal behavior but this fight will attempt to balance the moral books.
But let's be honest. We are dealing with a sport where attempted murder is legal.
Grudge fights such as this may create good theater but have little to do with the art of the prizefight.
Cotto is a decent guy and sportsman. Tony is simply a bum who should have been banned for life.
Tonight the bum gets beaten.
I believe his vision is in question and that Pac presented the Mexican with a career ending beating.
Miquel will complete the job in front of a packed Puerto Rican house and with his fathers spirit upon his shoulder.

[!!!Coatza!!!]

This is exactly how i've been picturing this fight going. Antonio Margarito's greatest attribute is he behaves like a fighter at all times. He will make Cotto capitulate again. Whenever Cotto knows the other guy is tougher than him, he backs up all the way. I first noticed it against Mosley in his greatest win. The last several rounds, he was only going backwards. I thought this gave Mosley a one point win in a fight that could've gone either way. No complaints about the great victory for Cotto in that fight, but It was the first sign of his mental weakness that I noticed. The same pattern followed against Margarito, Clottey and Pacquiao. In the Gomez and Foreman fights, it was obvious he was the much stronger guy. Not the case here against Margarito. Couple that with the fact I don't think this is a good weight for Cotto (as he looks very soft) and I think we see the same result only earlier in the fight.

[Da Boxer]

The analysis seems very objective. Thank you for that! However, lacks detail on what must be done by each to defeat each other tactics. Overall, one of the best articles so far.

Cotto HAS to make Marg take backward steps at times....he HAS to put something extra into those left hooks and right hands to get Marg's respect...he HAS to land his left hook to the body....these things are a MUST!!!....if he does those things, he'll toy with, torture, humiliate and then stop Marg around the 10th.....Cotto can't get cute like he did in their first fight, at some point he gotta back dude up and let him know this aint 2008....its a new day bro!!

Great comments and I agree. Cotto MUST stand his ground and fight, and fight hard I mean. He MUST gain some respect from Tony early in the fight. He MUST make him move back at times and he needs lay some extra MPH on those hooks.

I can see Cotto attacking the body early, being very aware of where he is at on the ring at all times and standing his ground with 4-6 punch combos turning Margarito.

My pick: Cotto lat KO/TKO - UD

[Black-ops]

War cotto tko 9

[WESS]

Margarito is complete ****

[Dave Rado]

By Cliff Rold - Don't count this corner as buying into the 'wraps did it' theory of the first fight. Margarito walked through hell, and ate a wave of shots, to get the win. [Click Here To Read More]

Margarito walked through hell, and ate a wave of shots this time as well. Other than the cut and closed eye, he took Cotto's punches every bit as well this time as last time. (The cut and closed eye were probably due to the eye injury from the Pacquiao fight, but without the eye stoppage he would have lost massively on points anyway.)

The difference this time was that Margarito's punches didn't hurt Cotto, even though he landed almost as many of them as he had in the first fight. It was obvious that his punches didn't carry the same power as they had in the first fight. Not quite proof but very strong corroborative evidence, IMO, that Margarito's gloves were loaded last time and that that was the key difference between the two fights.