In less than one week, on December 3, Miguel Cotto, 36(29)-2(2), will meet Antonio Margarito, 38(27)-7(1), in Madison Square Garden, New York, New York, in a long awaited rematch.

The fight game thrives on rematches. But there are rematches and then there are rematches.  

It was July 26, 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The veteran Mexican ring warrior Antonio Margarito fought his way out of an early hole against the then undefeated WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto to slowly pull even on the judges' cards before winning the belt in dramatic fashion with a TKO in 11. As the fight ended, HBO broadcaster Max Kellerman struck the correct note when he exuberantly declared the fight a "modern boxing classic."

And the really funny thing is, he didn't know the half of it. Oh, sure, Kellerman knew he'd just called one of the most exciting fights of this era. But nobody could have predicted how thick this thing between Cotto and Margarito was destined to get.

Six months later in Los Angeles, Margarito got busted with loaded hand wraps just prior to his first defense against Shane Mosley. Margarito was forced to re-wrap his hands and suddenly his slow, brutal, war-of-attrition style wasn't quite so effective. Mosley stopped him in nine.

And Mosley, the future Hall-of-Famer and three division world champion, was one of the signature wins on Miguel Cotto's resume. The Mosley-Margarito fight wasn't even close to finished before every single Puerto Rican boxing fan on the planet, and plenty of other boxing fans of every race, nationality and creed (including Mexican) was asking whoever was sitting next to him "Gee, do you reckon maybe Margarito's hands were loaded last summer when he took away Junito's "O"?

 

Since the fateful day of their last match up both men have suffered brutal beatdowns at the hands of Manny Pacquiao. Margarito's loss to Pacquiao came a little over a year ago in Cowboy Stadium, Forth Worth, Texas. He finished on his feet but paid a brutal price for it, suffering a broken orbital bone.

The damage Margarito suffered was extensive. He has undergone multiple eye surgeries during the year since and it was unclear whether or not New York State would license him less than two weeks before the fight.

Ultimately the NYSAC granted Margarito his license.

And the fight will occur as originally planned, in Madison Square Garden, where Miguel Cotto has sold more tickets than any other fighter this century. The Garden was sold out weeks ago, to the tune of 15 thousand tickets.

Expect the overwhelming majority of this crowd to be solidly pro-Cotto.  This is a home game for Cotto just as surely as if the Knicks were taking on the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Finals. 

Since his own technical knock out at the hands of Manny Pacquiao two years ago this month, Cotto has won the WBA world jr. middleweight title by technical knock out against the game but over-hyped Yuri Foreman in Yankee Stadium in June of 2010.

Earlier this year the WBA upgraded Cotto to "super" world champion at 154 and he defended that belt in March by TKOing Ricardo Mayorga in 12. Currently The Ring has him ranked No. 1 in the world in the division. 

 

As far as the rankings are concerned, Cotto is back on top, pretty much where he was when Margarito knocked him off back in 2008. December 3 he gets the chance to avenge one of his only two career losses, a defeat that is controversial to say the least. 

Fairness requires we admit: Margarito has maintained his innocence all along.

The HBO 24/7 series has been all about the hand wrap controversy. Cotto has called Margarito a criminal. Margarito has maintained that Cotto himself can wrap his hands and he will still beat Cotto again. 

Fairness further requires that we admit: The loaded hand wraps he may or may not have been wearing had nothing to do with the way Margarito kept coming forward on that night back in 2008. I have always said: Margaritos' two greatest talents as a fighter are the ability to absorb punishment and being very large for his weight class. 

Which means he could be a tough out for Cotto, no matter what. Yesterday morning I watched an HBO rebroadcast of their first fight. Both Kellerman and Emanuel Steward were questioning Cotto's ability to maintain his pace against the larger Margarito as early as the fourth round. 

So fans who are expecting Cotto to come out this time and dispatch justice quickly and cleanly are likely to be disappointed. It is more reasonable to expect another full-blown war.

Include a loaded under card that features three fights that could easily be premium cable main events, and fight fans are looking at a night of boxing that should go down as one of the most exciting in recent years. 

I will be updating throughout the week with links to breaking news and analysis and I will be blogging live from Madison Square Garden on the night of the fight. Check back for the latest news on this important fight.