Cotto vs. Margarito: Definitive Preview for Big Rematch

I am not a big fan of contrived animosity for the sake of hyping a fight. For the most part I prefer the old-school sportsmen, the type for whom pride alone is motivation enough.

However, there is absolutely nothing contrived about the animosity between Miguel Cotto, 36(29)-2(2), and Antonio Margarito, 38(27)-7(1). These modern boxing legends hate each other. This is a legitimate blood feud. 

When Margarito challenges Cotto on Dec. 3 in Madison Square Garden, there will be a lot more than Cotto's WBA "super" world light middleweight championship belt on the line.

For Cotto, this is all about redemption—and revenge.

Miguel Cotto was the undefeated WBA world welterweight champion when these two met the first time, in July of 2008. Within the previous 13 months Cotto had recorded a TKO of Zab Judah and a unanimous decision victory over Shane Mosley, along with a fifth-round destruction of Alfonso Gomez.

Most boxing observers believed he would prove superior to the veteran Margarito, though the rugged Mexican brawler came in with signature stoppages of Kermit Cintron (twice), Sebastian Lujan, Frankie Randall and even Sergio Martinez early in the current middleweight champ's career.

The fight was all Cotto early on, but Margarito absorbed a beating and kept coming. As the fight wore on he begin to put a beating of his own on Cotto.  In Round 11 the ref called it to a halt and Margarito was the new champion. 

HBO's Max Kellerman had it absolutely correct when he excitedly declared the fight "a modern day boxing classic."

Then, six months later in January of 2009, Margarito got caught with plaster in his hand wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley. He was subsequently stopped by Mosely in nine. There was instant speculation he had beat Cotto with loaded hands. 

Margarito ultimately served a 14-month suspension. He has maintained ever since that he fought clean against Cotto and in every other fight, and that he only almost cheated the one time he got caught. 

For three years Cotto avoided commenting on whether he felt Margarito had used loaded wraps against him, though it was a poorly kept secret that he was seething in resentment. Now, during the promotion of this fight, his tongue has come unstuck. 

During the Max Kellerman Face-Off segment, he produced the infamous post-fight picture of Margarito's torn hand-wraps, claiming they were plaster.

On Tuesday's media call he repeated the claim he made on 24/7 that Margarito is a "criminal."

"To wrap your hands like that," Cotto told reporters, "it is a weapon." 

Cotto further explained: "I've carried my loss as a man. But now, during the promotion of the fight, is the appropriate time to talk about these things."

And clearly Cotto feels Dec. 3 will be the appropriate time to take revenge.

For Margarito, this is about honor.

For a disgraced fighter, Antonio Margarito has done alright for himself. After serving his suspension he recorded one unanimous decision over Robert Garcia and then got handed the payday of a lifetime against Manny Pacquiao in November of 2010 in Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas. 

Top Rank's decision to use Margarito for a fight with Pacquiao can be explained by the fact Margarito is easy to hit and willing to get hit again and again. Five inches taller than Pacqiao and 20 pounds heavier on the night of the fight, he made for a dramatically compelling sacrificial lamb. 

And Margarito did indeed take a vicious beating against Pacman that night in Texas, ending up with a grotesquely shattered right orbital bone. Pacquiao actually seemed to feel pity and let up in the late rounds, allowing Margarito to finish on his feet.

In their now infamous Face-Off encounter, Margarito reacted to Cotto's cheating accusations with sincere emotion. He steadfastly maintains his innocence and that he beat Cotto fairly. 

However, the scent of scandal continues to cling to Margarito. A large percentage of boxing observers are convinced he cheated to beat Cotto. Even many who reserve judgment will not be convinced unless Margarito can repeat his performance from 2008.

Probably that scent of scandal will linger about Margarito forever, but an obviously clean victory over Cotto in this rematch goes a little way to restoring some of Margarito's tarnished honor. For a fighter who has famously declared his willingness to die in the ring, the motivation for this cannot be overstated.

New York, New York will be the place after all. 

Circumstances surrounding this fight have been circus-like in recent days. First, the New York State Athletic Commission announced last week that due to concerns over the extreme nature of the injuries he suffered against Pacquiao, it would not license Margarito until he had been examined and approved by an independent ophthalmologist. They set the date of Tuesday, Nov. 22 for the hearing.  

Meanwhile, the fight was two weeks away and Madison Square Garden had long been sold out to the tune of 15,000 tickets.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum quickly scrambled, announcing he had as many as three other alternate venues lined up in other states where Margarito had supposedly already been licensed, should the NYSAC reject him. Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, was rumored as a front-runner if the fight needed to be moved. 

Even aside from the logistical questions about how to sell 15,000 tickets in a new venue in two weeks time, it was a letdown for many to think about the fight occurring any place but Madison Square Garden. 

Indeed, the historic Garden has been an important aspect of promoting this event. It is one of the truly legendary boxing venues and there Cotto draws numbers that rival any of the all-time greats. The Puerto Rican native has sold more tickets in the Garden than any other fighter during this century. 

In his excellent boxing book An Unforgiving Sport, Thomas Hauser quoted Paul Malignaggi as saying that fighting Cotto in the Garden is like "fighting the Devil in Hell" (possibly the greatest line ever by an athlete, by the way). The electricity there was expected to be explosive when Cotto went for revenge against his bitter rival.

However, it remained an eagerly anticipated rematch, no matter where it would end up being fought.

Then, during a media conference call on Tuesday, held just hours before the scheduled NYSAC hearing, Miguel Cotto dropped a potential bomb shell, announcing that he would only fight in New York state: "If the commission won't approve Margarito, I will respect the commission."

It was confusing, even surreal. It's not as if Cotto started the media call by boldly declaring: "I don't care what Arum is telling you, if the NYSAC refuses Margarito than the fight is off, because I won't fight anywhere else." His declaration came up organically, in response to a Daily News reporter asking him how disappointed he would be if the fight had to take place somewhere else. 

Arum immediately tried to reign back in the conversation, breaking in to chastise that the media conference call was "not the appropriate place" to discuss a possible venue change. "I don't want to get into contractual issues," he intoned ominously.

However, there was no way a queue full of boxing writers would be able to ignore Cotto's startling announcement and moments later a reporter from Telemundo again asked Cotto, this time in Spanish, to clarify whether or not he truly would refuse to fight in an alternate venue. Cotto confirmed it as true: "I signed a contract for New York."

At this point Arum moved quickly, abruptly ending the phone call barely 30 minutes after it had begun. Boxing writers settled into a long afternoon of waiting on the NYSAC hearing.

Scheduled for 3 p.m., the NYSAC hearing ultimately stretched on for nearly three hours. But shortly before 6 p.m. the ruling came down: Margarito's license had been approved. The fight is still on in the Garden. 

What to expect in this rematch

I find this a difficult fight to predict. Both well-traveled fighters are three years older and during that time each suffered the kind of beat down from Manny Pacquiao that can often alter a fighter's career.  

I do, however, expect heated action. The fireworks will start early and the fight has an excellent chance of once more ending with a stoppage. Margarito has only been knocked out once (by Shane Mosley). As the world saw in his stand against Pacquiao, the plodding, straight-ahead Margarito is extremely tough to knock down.

But given the controversy surrounding his licensing process, expect the referee and/or ringside physician to be cautious. No way does Margarito fight a full 12 rounds with injuries similar to the ones he sustained in Texas last year.

Although Cotto is coming in hungry for revenge, expect him to fight intelligently, confident in his ability to punish the larger, but slower, Margarito when the opportunities inevitably present themselves. At 31 years old, Cotto is much closer to what he was in 2008 than the 33-year-old Margarito is.

I'm going to predict Cotto by TKO in 10.

And don't forget the undercard!

The undercard for this fight features three matches that could easily headline a premium cable card. Undefeated, top-10 welterweight contender Mike Jones, 24(18)-0, of Philadelphia will meet Argentinian veteran Sebastian Lujan, 38(24)-5(2)-2.

The almost always exciting Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios, 28(21)-0-1, will defend his WBA world lightweight championship against Manchester, England native John Murray, 31(18)-1(1).

And in another highly anticipated rematch, Polish native and New Jersey resident Pawel Wolak, 29(19)-1-1, will look to settle accounts with Delvin Rodriguez, 25(14)-5(1)-3, following their thrilling 10-round majority draw last July.  

Unlike the rematch at the top of the card, there appears to be little ill will between Wolak and Rodriguez. Both men spoke respectfully of the other at a press conference I attended at Madison Square Garden last October.

The Dominican Republic native Rodriguez did tell reporters he felt he had deserved the win, based on his more accurate and effective punching, but this was said in a modest, matter-of-fact manner. With his young son looking on, he was anything but boastful. 

Expect a full-out war just the same. With Wolak fixed in the top 10 at junior middleweight and Rodriguez hovering on the bubble just aside, a win here would be huge for either fighter's career.