Cotto vs. Margarito 2: Why Margarito Will Never Win Another Fight

The time has come for the 33-year-old has-been Antonio Margarito to hang up the gloves for good.

The “Tijuana Tornado” has taken a severe beating in three of his last four fights and it will only get worse. Manny Pacquiao utterly destroyed his right eye and it will never completely heal enough for him to hop into a ring and come away victorious.

Last Saturday he let a slow and aging Miguel Cotto zero in on his eye and pound on it. The fight was surprisingly even until Margarito’s eye became so swollen that it essentially was sealed shut. He turned into a one-eyed fighter, which is a death wish when facing this level of competition.

Despite all of the clear signs, Margarito still believes he has plenty of boxing left in him. "We’re going to sit down and see what happens next. I am not worried. My doctor saw it right (after the Cotto fight) and told me that it was fine. It was just swollen," he told Boxingscene.com.

He’s in denial just like every great boxer that is past his prime. He is a fierce competitor that doesn’t want to give it up. His body is perfectly fine, but when you need to sweat it out up only a week before a fight as you await the word on if your eye is ok a year after a fight, you know there is something wrong.

Since getting busted for the hand-wrap scandal in 2009, he simply hasn’t been the same. He got destroyed by Shane Mosley in the ninth round, beat a soft Roberto Garcia, was utterly destroyed by Pacquiao and never really had a chance against Cotto.

Maybe the hand wraps were the main reason he won 37 fights, but one thing is for sure: no hand wraps and an eye injury that will never go away equals retirement for Margarito.

He needs to give up now before he embarrasses himself even further.