WHEN MARGARITO DEFEATED COTTO IN THE BATTLE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 20 Sep 2010
All eyes on the boxing universe are focused on the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Antonio Margarito who is slated to face world number one pound-for-pound boxer Manny Pacquiao. The two protagonists had a common foe in Miguel Cotto, the current World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight champion.
The Margarito-Cotto fight was dubbed ?The Battle? with Margarito vacating his IBF title to face Cotto who was the WBA welterweight champion at that time. The title bout was held on July 26, 2008, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Before the bout Cotto was The Ring Magazine's number one ranked boxer in the welterweight division and number 6 overall in the pound-for-pound ratings. Margarito was the number 4 welterweight contender. Both hard line boxers had aggressive styles that lured the interest of the boxing world and earned 450,000 pay-per-view buys, the third-highest in PPV sales in 2008.
Cotto was the heavy two-to-one betting favorite as the fight set to begin. Both Margarito and Cotto weighed in at the welterweight limit of 147 pounds or 67 kg.
Cotto got off to an aggressive opening unleashing several punches and was the more mobile. Margarito later counterpunched in the second and had Cotto bloodied in the nose. Margarito punched Cotto to the body in the succeeding rounds and landed a right uppercut. In the fifth round Cotto began moving laterally to escape Margarito?s flurry. Margarito was able to land a straight right hand leaving Cotto a little wobbly.
Going into the sixth round Margarito was the aggressive fighter and connected blows that made Cotto clinch. Punches from Margarito continued to storm on Cotto as he tried to evade those blows and would counterpunch occasionally. In the tenth, a left hook, left uppercut, and right hand pinned Cotto against the ropes until the bell sounded.
The eleventh round proved to be the ending as Margarito connected an upper cut and two right hands forcing Cotto on his knee. Cotto was able to stand up but was unable to support himself with his shaky legs, and fell again. Cotto?s trainer threw in the towel forcing referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight at 2:05 of the eleventh round.
After the bout, referee Bayless commented on it as "the best fight I've ever done". Several sports scribes called it a classic fight with the two boxers giving entertainment to the fans all over the world. It lived up to its name as The Battle and not a few considered it as the ?fight of the year.? The brutal bout lived up to the high expectations of the boxing planet as the two boxers gave all the best they could.
With the convincing win, Margarito surged to The Ring Magazine's number one rank in the welterweight division, and he displaced Cotto as the number 6 boxer in the world pound-for-pound. Cotto dropped to The Ring?s number 3 welterweight ranking and was relegated to the number 10 in the pound-for-pound ratings.
Margarito was later suspected of cheating in his bout with Cotto when it was discovered that a substance similar to that of plaster of Paris was found in his hand wraps after his bout with Shane Mosley. The license of Margarito and his trainer was later revoked.
On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao crushed Cotto by technical knockout with 55 seconds into the 12th round, unseating Cotto as WBO welterweight champion. The Pacquiao-Cotto bout sold 1.25 million buys and it topped all boxing matches of 2009 as the most watched ring encounter.
Expect fireworks to explode atop the ring when Pacquiao and Margarito face each other on November 13, 2010 for the vacant WBC super welterweight/WBC light middleweight title. Let?s give Margarito a chance to redeem himself and fight without traces of cheating. It will be an electrifying bout, although the odds are going for Pacquiao.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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