Boxing:Cotto Vs Margarito on July 26th, Will Mayweather Jr. Be Watching?

Recently, MMA has been scooping up Boxing fans at a record pace. One of the biggest reasons has been the lack of compelling fights and the high number of champions in each weight class.

Every once in awhile though, a fight comes along that can remind those of us that have been recently watching the UFC what Boxing is all about. Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito is such a fight.

the fighters-

Miguel Cottois 32-0 with 26 knockouts and hails from Puerto Rico. He currently holds the WBA welterweight title but more importantly, most see him as the number 1 contender to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the division. He is coming off of a 5th round stoppage of Alfonso Gomez, of Contender fame, on April 12.

Antonio Margarito is 36-5-1, with 26 knockouts and hails from Mexico. He won the IBF welterweight title on April 12, from Kermit Cintron with a 6th round knockout.

the styles-

Miguel Cotto is a heavy handed puncher with power in both hands. He has a vicious body attack and good hand speed. He has shown that he can adapt and change strategies during  the course of a fight if plan A is not working.

Antonio Margarito is a hard nosed fighter with an aggressive high punch volume style. He has been clocked by compubox as throwing upwards of 100 punches per round. He likes to work the body and the head, and tends to wear his opponents down and overwhelm them.

the breakdown-

Look for Cotto to come out pumping his jab to the body and boxing on his toes and giving Margarito angles. If he has watched the Cintron fight, he probably has realized that trying to blast Margarito into the stands won't work as Margarito has one of the best chins in Boxing. Look for him to stick and move, and try to work his way inside of Margarito's reach.

As for Margarito, he has shown recently that he is trying to buck his trend of starting late. Look for a high punch output from Margarito from round 1, as he tries to put as much pressure on Cotto as he can for the later rounds. He might also walk thru some shots and try to test Cotto's chin early, as Cotto has been down several times, although not at welterweight.

my prediction-

Miguel Cotto stands at 5"7. Antonio Margarito is just under 6"0. In most fights, this would spell doom for the shorter fighter assuming all things are equal. Well in this case, all things are not equal.

Cotto has excellent boxing ability, see his late rounds display against Mosley for example. Margarito will be winging punches with bad intentions all night long, but look for Cotto to box smart, pump his jab to the body and work his combinations.

If anyone is down in this fight it will probably be Cotto, but I see his chin holding up and his handspeed being just good enough to edge out Margarito in what should be a toe to toe battle over 12 rounds.

random thoughts-

Assuming that Cotto wins, is this enought to finally warrant Mayweather Jr.'s attention. He has been acting as though Cotto is not talented enough or a big enough draw to consider fighting him, I wonder if a win over Margarito will change his mind.

At some point, If Cotto keeps winning and Floyd keeps fighting Jr. Middleweights and Jr. Welterweights, you will have to say he is ducking Cotto.

If Margarito wins, a rematch with Paul Williams should be his number one priority. Williams handed him his last loss and revenge must be on his mind.