First fight I ever watched in it's entirety standing on my feet. I'm disappointed no doubt, because my boy got beat. But I'm a bigger fan of Boxing than I am of any fighter...and it was a great fight. As far as the fight goes, I thought Cotto outboxed Marg with relative ease for the first half of the fight. Matter of fact, I only had Tony winning one round at that point. Though I was concerned about him expending so much energy from having to move virtually 3 minutes of every round. I knew Marg's best chance to win was through a war of attrition, but I wasn't completely sure if he could make his usual late run with the punishment he would be accumulating (upstair and downstairs). Thing is, Cotto's body attack was nowhere to be found tonight. And Margarito as usual, got in his groove in the second half of the fight. I'm not sure if it was the pressure, the body punching, or a combination of both..but whatever it was, Margarito completely zapped everything Cotto had. In that last round, Cotto was a sitting duck..and his corner did the right thing by throwing in the towel. But it's funny, the way Margarito came across on the Countdown special actually put me in a place where I told myself, if ever my favorite fighter was to lose, I wouldn't mind it coming against this guy. Tonight I was more concerned with it being a good fight, rather than my guy winning. In 2006, I experienced a similar situation being a big fan of Jeff Lacy and seeing him outclassed by Joe Calzaghe. This time, it was a bit easier to swallow. But at the same time, still painful. And because of tonight, I probably won't ever get emotionally attached to a fighter as I had been with those two. All credit to the Tijuana Tornado. Hopefully the beating Cotto took tonight didn't take too much out of him.
I don't think Cotto could have hurt Margarito with a sledgehammer flush on the chin. This will break any man's will.
Yeah I hope Cotto comes back big. I love watching him fight. He is the better boxer, much better defense, better timing, and footwork, as a fan you have to appreciate the skills Cotto was showing but Margarito is the bigger, stronger, more durable fighter and finally just wore him down. Not the biggest Margarito fan but the guy gets mad respect his chin is unreal and his workrate is off the charts. He almost breaks you down like Pavlik but has the better chin and not as refined offensively.
Antwaun Maxx good post, im glad true Cotto fans like you and myself are here to show we stand by our boy but still give Margo all the credit in the world.
The funny thing is Margarito really wasn't able to catch up to Cotto that much overall. Cotto just isn't built for battle against an opponent as imposing as he is. Stamina and Cotto's legendary chin is what cost him the fight. The outcome was an absolute certainty - as I said, Margarito didn't even get to Cotto that much. Cotto revealed himself. That's what happened. No myths, no hype, no delusion. Just real ****. Plenty of Margarito's opponents were able to withstand ALOT more pressure than Cotto had to withstand. Cotto wilted and died the way all his detractors always said he would. IT HAPPENED.
Great post and I was wondering why he didn't go to the body. But any way this fight was one for the ages
