HBO finally put the fight up on On-Demand, so I watched it for the third time (rewatched in HD the morning after the fight too). First I would like to say that just like "The Dark Knight" It lived up to all my expectations, such an amazing fight from start to finish. Anyways , I scored it Round by round, let me know what you think Round -Cotto Margarito 1 -10 9 2 -9 10 - Closest round in my opionion, wanted to call it a draw but I thought that Margarito was the aggressive damage dealing boxer in this round, I think this is when Cotto's nose started bleeding. 3 -10 9 4 -10 9 5 -10 9 3,4 & 5 all were Clearly Cotto's to me, Cleaner Combos and did good dmg, his Defense and footwork was great as well. Still close rounds though. 6 -10 9 Gave this to Cotto, but It was So damn close. I thought Cotto landed more shots and cleaner shots. Margarito is starting to hurt him 7 -9 10 Bravely fought by Cotto, but can someone say Left Uppercut? Margarito's best shot all night was his left uppercut and he would throw 2 or 3 in a row through Cotto's gloves. Could have been a 10-8 round but Cotto did fight back and landed very good hard combos 8 -9 10 Good bounce back round for Cotto, so close to call, but I think Margarito still won it through his workrate and pressure. 9 -9 10 This round could have gone either way in my eyes, but for the same reasons as round 8 I gave it to Margarito. 10- 9 10 Cotto was winning the whole damn round up until the last 30 seconds or so. Cotto landed crisp combos, but Margarito landed 4 shots toward the end the really hurt Cotto and won him the round in my eyes. So I had it even going into the final round, I don't really think Margarito should have been up before round 11, but some judges base thier scoring off of pressure and aggression...in which case its easy for Marg to win most of those rounds. After watching this fight again, I have so much more respect for Cotto. Anyone who says he quit is just being an ignorant hater... He took some massive mental and physical punishment the whole fight. And he fought back all the way until the end. On another note, I like Lampley a lot, and I actually met him and Merchant at the MGM in vegas when I was at Taylor-Pavlik II , but he was pretty ridiculous during this fight, he was very bias toward Cotto and said some pretty dumb stuff. I thought Steward was brilliant and like normal calls things before they happen, Kellerman did a good job too I thought, he is much smarter then many people give him credit for. I really hope there is a rematch, I think Margarito would win again, but there is a good chance Cotto can still out point him, he has the skills. I think a rematch could be a lot like the Taylor-Pavlik rematch, Cotto trys to stay off the ropes and box a bit more. He really needs to stop crouching right in front of Margarito too, those left uppercuts are viscous.:thumbsup
Yea True..i Had It Basically What You Had It...5-5 Going Into The 11th Round...but If It Came To A Decision And Cotto Could Have Finished He Woulda Lost Handily With Those 2 Knockdowns--11th Woulda Been A 10-7 Round For Tony..and 12th Might Have Been The Same...
I had it 6-4. One round different than you. I can see it 5-5 going into the 11th rd too. I felt Margaritos though not as crisp inflicted more damage than Cotto's flashy punches.
I watched it again a few times as well. Cotto really showed his limitations and inability to make adjustments. What's even worse is once Cotto started getting in trouble with certain things it just kept getting more constant throughout the fight. Margarito landed triple uppercuts repeatedly, over and over. If I didn't see it I wouldn't have thought something like that would even be possible at the higher levels of the professional ranks. Triple uppercuts, and he kept falling for it. Sure, Cotto was doing everything he could to dig deep and stay in it, but Cotto was an undefeated professional. Fighters who haven't lost at a certain level have to learn defeat like a new language. I'll be curious to see how much fight Cotto has left in him after this experience. Once you learn how to lose it becomes a familiar place, and it's much easier to get back there. Cotto did succumb after all. That's not a good sign for the future if things ever get really hectic.
I won't say fightof the decade, but is in my top 5 Tito vs Vargas was the **** Corrales vs Castillo Vazquez vs Marquez Ward vs Gatti But I do agree with alot that you said
fight of the decade not a chance Gatti vs Ward, Marquez vs Vazquez or lets not forget Chico vs JLC but never the less great fight
Cotto looked DOOMED after Round 6. He could have EASILY been knocked out in Round 7. I was sitting in the bar, with a bunch of folks talkin 'bout "Cotto is whippin his ass! That boy gonna slow down and get tired of them punches" But I could see the body shots cotto was taking on those ropes, and while they weren't nearly as flashy as the ones he was giving Margo, they were 10 times as effective. No real surprise in my book. I actually predicted 10.
well it's not even the fight of the year much less fight of the decade... FOTD can be debated but in my mind its unquestionably vasquez marquez the 3rd one but it still was a great great fight, and probably better than some of the FOTY candidates from previous years
