Cotto vs. Margarito: Lackluster Fight Proof Event Should Have Been Pushed Back

All 21,239 fans occupying Madison Square Garden knew where to punch Antonio Margarito on Saturday night.

His right eye had to be cleared by the New York state boxing commission just a week before the fight. He got absolutely pummeled by Manny Pacquiao over a year ago—yet his eye was still highly questionable for Saturday. It was a huge red flag that was ignored by the powers that be because of all of the money involved.

Naturally, Miguel Cotto focused on his eye. By the fourth round, Margarito had a huge gash in his eye that was bulging—a gory and graphic image. Credit Margarito for sucking it up and sticking with the fight, but after a fierce left hook in the fourth round, it was clear the match was over. Margarito was fighting on pride at that point and eventually the pain won out.

Heading into the ninth round, ringside doctor Barry Jordan insisted on an extensive examination before letting him go back out there. Clearly he shouldn’t have, as the eye had essentially swollen shut and Margarito was a one-eyed fighter.

At the age of 33, it’s time for Margarito to hang it up. His right eye isn’t going to heal for a very long time. As the Washington Times' Gayle Falkenthal says, it might take equally long for him to get cleared again:

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As for Margarito, it’s doubtful even if anyone would license him to fight with his damaged right eye that he’ll ever fight at the elite level again. It would be the wise thing to do for him to retire now.

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I don’t want to take any credit away from Cotto; he threw a splendid combination of speed and power punches that kept Margarito off balance. It’s not his fault he was fighting a Cyclops in the ring.

The fight should have been pushed back to May so Margarito could give his eye a chance to fully heal. The stakes were too high—there was too much money on the line—but in the end it was a disservice to boxing fans everywhere.