Margarito brutalizes Cotto in a thriller

Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto waged a tremendous battle on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas to determine who the supreme welterweight on the planet is. Antonio Margarito provided that answer with an amazing trouncing of highly regarded and formerly undefeated champion Miguel Cotto via 11th round KO. Cotto seemed to understand right from the beginning that going to war with Margarito would be an error in strategy and wisely opened the fight in boxer mode. And Cotto demonstrated marvelous skills as he “seemed” to be too quick and slick for the Tijuana Tornado. Cotto landed the jab and pinpoint combinations and while Margarito walked through it in the early rounds he was unable to easily find Cotto.

But Margarito is not one who is easily discouraged. He would bang the body, Cotto’s gloves and anything else he could find when Cotto became a stationary target. But in the first five rounds, Cotto was boxing beautifully, making Margarito miss and countering with laser combinations. But even though Cotto was winning a lot of mini battles, Margarito was the much stronger man. And when he was eating shots, he was still walking Cotto down. And while Cotto appeared to be landing the much more visible and cleaner shots early on, Margarito was able to make his presence known with thudding body blows and a savage left uppercut that was often able to pierce Cotto’s gloves. Even though Cotto was winning the boxing match in the first half of the fight, he was getting noticeably busted up.

He had a bloody nose in the 2nd round and his mouth became a crimson mass soon after that. After 6 rounds, Cotto appeared to win at least 4 rounds but things took a dramatic turn for the worse for Cotto in the 7th round. He would take brutal body shots and uppercuts and for the first time in the fight, he showed some “give.” And he wasn’t able to move and out maneuver the relentless and brutal Margarito as frequently as he was doing. I thought after that telling 7th round that Cotto now had a long road to hoe. He was beginning to look like a beaten fighter and he now had to hold Margarito off for 5 more rounds – and that wasn’t going to happen.

Margarito took over in rounds 8 through 10 but Cotto was not going to go gently into the night. He fought back and when he could muster the energy, he would still sting Margarito with blistering salvos. But the shots were merely and annoyance to the Tijuana tough guy and he simply swatted the bee’s away and kept going forward. And now he was landing some nasty and damaging stuff. Body shots were now sinking deeply into Cotto’s side and midsection and he clearly didn’t take those well. And Margarito was now landing sizzling uppercuts and right hands that were beginning to make Cotto look like the elephant man.

It got to point where Cotto simply ran out of resources and had no place to hide. He was now going to take a thumping and by the last half of the 10th round his resistance was nearly gone. Margarito shook Cotto to core late in the 10th but he remained upright until the rounds end. But it was evident that he was badly damaged and that Margarito was like a shark that smelled blood in the next round. Margarito began his attack on his wounded prey and Cotto had no choice but to take a knee. His resistance was now all gone. He was spent bullet. Cotto got his 8 count and Margarito followed as Cotto back peddled. Margarito resumed his brutal assault and the weary and bruised Cotto slumped down again. That was it. Cotto’s corner threw the white towel to indicate surrender. It was the right call. Cotto gave his body and soul to this fight but he simply reached the end of the line.

It was a tremendous victory for the affable Margarito. He’s earned the right to tell many people, “I told you so.” Many writers and pundits, about 40 out of 50 picked Cotto to prevail. Many viewed Margarito as too crude, slow and primitive to deal with Cotto’s speed and evolved skills. But most failed to recognize that Margarito has his own attributes that can overcome excellent fighters. He’s not as slow as most think and he’s always been able to track down fast fighters. Margarito possesses a super human ability to take punches and withstand pain. He may be the best conditioned fighter in the game and happens to be freakishly strong. I also believe he has underrated boxing skills.

If he didn’t have skills and savvy in the ring, being strong and tough alone would probably not be enough to get over on someone like Cotto. Just because he doesn’t win in the manner of a Floyd Mayweather, many people think of Margarito as a crude brawler. But I think his method of mayhem is the most violently artistic manner a fighter can win. He doesn’t win by going around an opponent; he wins by going through them, taking their body, will and heart. In my opinion winning in that manner is the most complete and dominant way to win. He certainly leaves no doubt about the result and his wins are highly satisfying.

But when someone like a Mayweather slaps his way to a 12 round decision, he may win easily but they are often unsatisfying and not compelling victories. It’s noteworthy that Cotto has been a destroyer in his career but Margarito pulled a Cotto on Cotto. He was simply way too much. By the way, I think Cotto fought a great fight and was marvelously prepared. And I think he would have handled any other welter in world – including the retired Floyd Mayweather. Margarito, in my view, is the best welterweight in the world and now deserves some mention as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world.

He has some options at welterweight such as a rematch with Paul Williams and the winner of Clottey vs. Judah. But he’d love to fight Oscar de la Hoya which is understandable because with that fight he would set up his family financially for life. But I don’t think Oscar wants any part of the Tijuana Tornado. He would be stopped more brutally and sooner than Cotto was. De la Hoya was talking about facing Cotto “when” he won. But that didn’t happen so wouldn’t it be logical to face Margarito? But, unfortunately, logic has nothing to do with it. Oscar can call his shots and at his stature he’s not about to walk into a beatdown in the twilight of his career. But I think Margarito deserves to be lauded for his amazing efforts and warrior fighting style. He the baddest man on the planet at 150 pounds and under bar none.

I don’t like how a Cotto win was viewed as mere formality by promoter Bob Arum who promotes both fighters. He wasn’t shy about his desire and expectation of a Cotto win. And I think that attitude was unfair to Margarito. He deserves better than that. Although, since everyone anointed Cotto king of the ring before he faced Margarito it probably played a role in Cotto being nearly a 3-1 favorite which was good for the bettors.

I picked Margarito to win this fight by KO in the 10th round. I was just a round off but the fight went like I expected. I felt that Cotto would have success with his speed and boxing ability but I knew Margarito has an indomitable will and had beaten speedy guys in the past. And I believed Margarito was the tougher and stronger man and that over time he would be able to impose his vast will on Cotto and take over the fight. And, of course, we all know he did that. There were signs in Cotto’s previous fights that he could be broken. Shane Mosley came close to doing it and when Zab Judah hurt Cotto, Cotto dug brutal low blows into Judah’s gonads. And I knew Margarito would bring much more to this fight than Mosley and Judah. And he certainly did. He’s not as speedy or slick as those men but his chin, strength and fortitude put him ahead of the pack in my view. Margarito is still only 30 and doesn’t seem to be slowing down. I want to see him in the biggest fights in the next few years, bringing his own unique special brand of mayhem. The secret is out now to every one, he’s a special fighter and everyone should enjoy and appreciate him while he’s here.