Right, I wouldnt bet on the stoppage especially with Smoger reffing but the difference in the exchanges starting to become quite glaring. Again Margo was moving foward but the slightest retaliation from Cotto either mad him stop in his tracks or momentarily move backwards.
Was it a pre-mature stoppage? Yes. Was it a bad stoppage, no. I dont think Margarito had anything other than a punchers chance at that point to win the fight. Cotto outboxed and punished Margo for the whole fight. If the fight were a bit closer at the time of stoppage like in the first fight, than we could argue about it being a bad stoppage. Margo had no chance in winning but to knock Cotto out. This was very similar to the Pac vs. Margo fight. The only difference is the ref and doctor saved Margo from himself.
Maybe, but then he could have had permanent damage to the eye! Margarito was f*cked before the fight IMO, that eye is just mashed up after the Pacquiao beating. Shouldn't have even been in the ring anyway, his eye was in no state to be Boxing.
Would you call the time of the stoppage the 1st sign of eye danger? I don't see how this was a surprise given the hoops that had to be jumped thru just to get the license. I wanted the fight to continue, but understand it is the doc's job to protect the fighters. Period. Margo got 9 rounds out of his reconstructed eye getting tagged with flush shots. If he doesn't want the fight stopped, learn some defense.
Out of curiousity I wish it would have continued, but I think the stoppage was warranted. I was rooting for Margarito, but I didn't get the feeling at all as in the first fight that he was actually going to be able to take control and win unless his eye wasn't swollen and it was an old fashioned 20 rounder. I think if that was the case he could have claimed control at some point. But thats not the case, Cotto fought a smarter fight and was conditioned for 12 rounds and didn't let Tony get in control at any time.
You keep saying 'we've seen worse eyes' but the fact is Margarito's eye was already ****ed and he could have lost his sight if allowed to continue. So on the surface we may have seen worse but remember he already looked like he was sporting a bulging glass eye prior to taking 86 punches flush on his right peeper!
1. Margarito's eye was totally shut. He couldn't see much(or at all) on it. Now, if you can't see the hit that's coming, you could get seriously hurt. 2. Cotto would have continued to take advantage of that. Nice legit stoppage by the doctors.
It was always going to be stopped at the first sign of bad damage to that eye.I'm convinced they would have stopped it even if Margarito was ahead.The NYSAC probably made a proviso for this when they agreed to sanction the bout.They would have left themselves open to a whole world of trouble if Margarito suffered more permanent damage.Only surprise for me was that they gave him another round.This wasn't a casino in Memphis or somewhere obscure in boxing terms.It just couldn'y have gone any other way when that eye began to close.I'm certain Margarito's team were warned this could happen.