HBO: Miguel Ángel Cotto vs. Sadam Ali & Rey Vargas vs. Oscar Negrete RBR.

Cotto only took a knee twice against Margarito (who, incidentally, hit him on the canvas each time. A five minute rest could certainly have been provided, by the letter of the rule. Kind of funny that some people who complained about the nature of the Ward-Kovalev II stoppage were completely fine with Margarito getting the win in a fighter where his last landed punch was a clear foul...) and he had shipped horrific punishment prior to that point.

In other fights, including Pacquiao, he continued to persevere long after the momentum of the fight had swung against him, thereby erasing much of the stigma that had been (unfairly) attached to Cotto following the first fight with Marg.

Part of the issue with Freitas was that he was perceived as having removed himself too quickly from proceedings against Diaz-though, IIRC, Diaz was clearly coming on as the fight went on and had given Acelino a bit of a hiding during the last couple of rounds of that contest. Combined with the fact that he chose not to carry on after getting dropped by Corrales in a fight that was still more or less hanging in the balance, led some to question his heart.

Then again, Freitas was the same guy who found a way to win against Barrios when all seemed lost and imo, could be forgiven for withdrawing himself from the contest with one of the hardest punchers in lightweight history when said opponent had really begun to assert himself. And, as already started, he starting to absorb significant abuse against a larger, prime Baby Bull in the other loss.

So, while Freitas didn't soldier on against all hope like Cotto tried to do against Pac in either loss, his heart was never something I questioned, either.

Yeah, the knee was of concern going into the fight; but that, imo, was balanced by the question of whether Cotto's ability had atrophied to the extent that the knee wouldn't be any real issue. Keep in mind, Sergio had still managed to hold off a pretty solid contender in Martin Murray with similar issues. Cash out fight or no, I think Martinez and camp were of the opinion that even with a gimped knee they could hold off a faded, smaller opponent. Otherwise, they wouldn't have taken the fight.

 

That was the (in)famous 'cracked wrap' picture. Cotto wasn't focused on the red stain, which was glove dye and not blood, but on the seeming crack on the surface of the wrap. Margarito was unable to explain the black mark during the Face Off discussion (for good reason, which you'll understand in a moment). Here's a copy of the picture;
[url]https://i.img.ie/0GO.gif[/url]
[url]https://i.img.ie/0Ga.jpg[/url]

HBO could easily have debunked Cotto's exhibit A if they'd chosen to. But that would have undermined the narrative by which they were selling the rematch, so they didn't. They did, however, offer keen observers the means by which to debunk it for themselves. These screencaps have done the rounds in the six years since I took them from a sweetboxing rip of the 24/7 series HBO produced (alongside the Face Off edition) to promote the rematch;
[url]https://i.img.ie/0Gz.jpg[/url]
[url]https://i.img.ie/0GJ.jpg[/url]

The high-def alternate angles expose the 'crack' for what it is, an optical illusion. The black mark is just a piece of thread. Which also accounts for Margarito's inability to explain its appearance in the angle Cotto presented. Who remembers having had a piece of thread on their wrap some three and a half years earlier?

As I said, this wouldn't have gone unnoticed by HBO's editors or commentators, but they chose not to draw public attention to it because it didn't fit the dramatic narrative fuelling the PPV rematch. In addition, HBO had built up quite the aura of invincibility around Cotto throughout 2007/08, and the 'Plasterito' scandal was a convenient means by which to limit or roll back any damage his reputation had sustained as a result of the Margarito and Pacquiao defeats. Poor Miguel had been illegally beaten to within an inch of his life, and every defeat thereafter could be dismissed on account of the lasting damage caused by the finkish crime duo of Margarito and Capetillo. Not only were viewers encouraged to feel sorry for Cotto and dismiss his defeats, they were encouraged to revere him for the deep reserves of physical and psychological strength he'd exhibited in returning to world level boxing and remaining relevant despite the lasting consequences of such a wicked assault. It requires deep reserves of physical and psychological strength to bounce back from brutal defeats, anyway, but HBO exaggerated the degree of damage he'd sustained, distorted the circumstances and created a kind of Saint Cotto, a boxing martyr for PPV consumption.

The story was more important to the network than the truth, integrity be damned.

And not even that, in fact.

The lab analysis of the insert found only traces of calcium and sulfur, both of which are found in human sweat. Anyone who's worn wraps and gloves knows that your hands get sweaty in there. The analysis found no trace of the compound calcium sulfate hemihydrate a.k.a. Plaster of Paris.

The offending article was on display, and its appearance differed greatly from what many had been led to expect;
[url]https://i.img.ie/0GH.gif[/url]

That's the rock/plaster slab/concrete block, which (to borrow words from Stephen King) could serve as a "lesson in the vast difference between myth and reality." To quote Gabe Montoya, who inspected it at close quarters, "The insert was about the size of a business card. And about as stiff."

Bear in mind that the D.A. never levelled a 'conspiracy to commit assault of great bodily injury' charge against Margarito and Capetillo, or any kind of criminal charge. There were no grounds for them to do so.

Aside from the fact that there was no plaster (see above), it wouldn't have helped even if there had been. It's interesting that you use the term "rocks", because rocks are what the crumbling plaster in the gloves would effectively form, and this would be distinctly disadvantageous and injurious to the puncher. Seek the May 1964 issue of Boxing Illustrated ([url]here's a copy for sale, if anyone's interested[/url]);

Plaster wraps are an urban legend. They have no practical application.

Margarito was hung on a technicality. Capetillo used an old, smelly, sweaty, grungy pad instead of clean gauze when wrapping Margarito's hands for Mosley in L.A., and that was the extent of the crime. It's not even likely that he would have used the same insert when wrapping Tony's hands for Cotto, because, if I remember correctly, the Nevada commission supplied the tape and gauze for wrapping fighters' hands.

The suspensions were a triumph of bureaucracy over discretion and common sense and needlessly damaged Margarito's reputation. Like him or not, he was an honest and brave competitor with a clean, fan-friendly style, and he didn't deserve that stain on his character.


This should be the definitive post on the matter. But the mythology will inevitably persist.