Cotto vs. Margarito 2: Lots of Action Will Make Short Fight Worth Money

Those who order tonight's fight between Miguel Angel Cotto and Antonio Margarito should not expect a long fight. Generally speaking, fights outside of the heavyweight division are pretty safe bets to go a long way. That's not the case here.

But don't mistake one thing for another. Just because I am predicting a short fight doesn't mean that I am predicting a boring one. Not at all. Actually, this fight will be more exciting than a lot of fights that do go the distance.

Those fights often go the distance because one fighter gets out to an early lead and then plays defense for the rest of the fight. There are exceptions, like any one of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez fights, but a long fight doesn't always mean a good fight. 

Michael J. Fensom of the Newark Star-Ledger detailed the past, and some of the words that were said at the press conference between Margarito and Cotto. But the long and short of it is that these two do not like each other. 

But honestly, what's better than two men who don't like each other? After all, their job is to go out and pummel the other. A little bit of dislike between the two only makes things better. 

Look for these guys to come out swinging early and often. We're not going to be seeing a lot of defensive fighting in this one. Whichever one gets the early lead will look for the knockout. Likewise, the man who falls behind will look to do the exact same thing.

At some point relatively early in the fight, we're going to see a knockout. These two will be far too aggressive to think that this fight is going to last for a terribly long time. 

But that's fine. Actually, that's preferred. Even if the fight's not a long one, I'll take the action that this one is sure to produce over a 12-round defensive battle any day of the week.

Prediction: Cotto by fifth-round knockout.