Cotto-Margarito 2: 10 Things We Learned from the Fight and Cotto's Win

As fans finally simmer down from the aftermath of the rematch between Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito they get to see what the fallout from the fight entails.

The rematch between the two was put together so fans could find out if Margarito might have cheated during his 2008 win over Cotto, but the truth is no one will ever really know.  The rematch might have cleared up what happen that night, but it really was just a chance for Cotto to get a measure of redemption against a now hated Margarito.

That isn't to say that the fight didn't have its merits.  Just like its predecessor, it was an entertaining affair and it captured the excitement the first bout did even if it was for different reasons.

It even helped answer some questions even if they weren't the ones that wanted to have the answers to.

Even though fans don't know what is next for Margarito or Cotto there are things that can be gleaned from how the fight played out and how the fighters held themselves afterwards.

Margarito Is 1-3 in His Fights After the Hand Wrap Controversy

Antonio Margarito got busted in 2009 in his locker room before his bout with Shane Mosley for getting pads inserted into his gauze that had a hard plaster-like substance in them.

It immediately lead to questions over some of his more impressive victories and made fans wonder if his entire career wasn't a sham.

His recent results since that discovery haven't helped ease his suspicion.

He lost the bout with Mosley by knockout after getting his pads confiscated.

Then after his suspension he fought a C-level fighter in Roberto Garcia who he beat by unanimous decision.  The once-vaunted power that Margarito seemed to have held at one time couldn't stop a lesser fighter over ten rounds.

After that he lost a wide unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao.  Pacquiao may be one of the best fighters in the world, but as a smaller man Margarito should have been able to at least hurt him badly.

He couldn't and it made even more fans wonder.

Now he has lost a fight with Miguel Cotto who he was at one point able to break down only three years ago.

With this final loss he has probably lost a lot of supporters and has the evidence also stacking against him.

Cotto's Face Seems to Be in Much Better Shape Than the First Fight

It would be easy to stick this in the same slide as the one that questions Margarito's power, but it is a different point completely.

Yes, that could lead some fans to question if Margarito seemed to lack power, but it also has to do with Cotto's tactics.

Cotto was able to tie up when Margarito landed some heavy shots and boxed even more intelligently in this match then he did in their first outing.  Cotto was able to improve his defense for this fight and intelligently move around Margarito's power punches.

So between what seemed to be a lack of power from Margarito and a great gameplan by Cotto, fans got to see a completely different fight from the first one.

Which factor played more of a role in Cotto not taking as much abuse is unclear, but the fact is that he walked out of the ring not just the winner but definitively so.

Margarito's Career Might Be Finished Part 1-His Reputation

Margarito doesn't exactly have a lot of fans and since he lost without even doing close to the same damage he did to Cotto in the first fight he probably didn't win anyone over.

Now he has lost three of his last four with a win coming over a a no-name opponent who he wasn't able to knock out.  It's bad enough that he is a pariah in boxing, but now he is a perennial loser on the top level as well.  

As much as boxing hates cheaters, it doesn't embrace losers much better.

Now that Margarito is both he may not get another chance at top-level fights as most fans bought the fight to see him get beaten by Cotto.  They probably don't want to see a trilogy.

So where does Margarito go from here?

Tough to say as he may only be able to make fights that draw in his own country of Mexico.  Potentially he could face countryman Alfredo Angulo since Angulo can't fight in the US and they are both in the same weight class.

It's even possible that he might fight Saul Alvarez, but it isn't likely.  Golden Boy Promotions, Alvarez' promoter, probably won't want to do the fight as Margarito's name doesn't have much clout anymore and his past with the hand wrap scandal.

So it may just be the end of the line for the Tijuana Tornado.

Margarito's Career Might Be Finished Part 2-His Eye

Of course Margarito's reputation may not be the only thing keeping him from continue to compete in the ring. 

It wasn't long ago that it seemed like his career was over after he lost to Pacquiao and sustained what seemed like a permanent injury to his eye. 

He was came close to not licensed in New York and it almost cost him the Cotto fight.

It's also the reason that the fight got stopped.

Considering the fact that Margarito had to jump through several hoops just to be able to compete in New York and then got his eye swollen shut again, it's hard to see how many other states will be willing to take a risk on him.

Even if he was contracted to fight in another state, the eye is now a liability.  Any fighter he faces now will know that he is able to be hurt there and that it is sensitive to being punched.  They'll aim for it and after a few rounds Margarito will be forced to fight with one eye and limited depth perception.

That isn't exactly a weakness that a boxer wants to have on fight night, but it seems like it is now one that Margarito is stuck with.

Boxing Can Still Draw Fans and so Can Cotto

It was mostly Cotto supporters at Madison Square Garden on Saturday and it proved two things.

One, that boxing may have become a niche sport in recent years, but it still has its fanbase.  Especially when fights are made in logical locations like fighter's hometowns.

Two, it showed that Cotto who some fans have dismissed as finished after the first Margarito fight still has fans that are willing to watch him.

It was proven back when he fought Yuri Foreman at Yankee's Stadium and it got proven again in his fight with Margarito.

What remains to be seen is how many more fans might start tuning in again to see Cotto fights now that he has avenged his loss.

Boxing fans are notoriously fickle and many want to see rematches so that fighters can avenge their losses.  Sometimes these rematches are years later and the opponent who beat them isn't even on a winning streak anymore.

Yet, that is what is sometimes takes for fans to believe in boxers again.

It will be interesting to see if that is what happens with Cotto.

Cotto Seems at Peace Finally

Cotto finally seems to have moved on from his hatred of Antonio Margarito and the questions that plagued him after their first fight.

He even said at the post-fight conference that Margarito meant nothing to him.

The beating he gave Margarito might just have finally been what it took to clear the cobwebs and the doubts from his mind and get him back to the Miguel Cotto of old.  It will be interesting to see if that is the case when he steps into the ring next.

But Cotto has finally closed the book in his rivalry with Margarito and in his mind proven the answers that he to what he already believed happened in their first encounter.  Cotto looked like a man vindicated and ready to move on with his life.

It not only means that the Puerto Rican superstar is in a good place, but that fans won't be seeing a third fight between the two.

Margarito Didn't Get Much Love from the Fans After the Fight

After being beaten and battered in what was a great fight fans still don't seem to have forgiven Margarito or started supporting the once fallen boxer.  Even though he put on a gutsy performance in the ring that has long since been the staple of many Mexican boxers fans didn't return to his side to congratulate him.

It's something he will probably never get back.  If beatings at the hands of Pacquiao and Cotto won't get him the love of the fans again then it's safe to say that nothing will.  

Just because fans don't want to see him killed in the ring doesn't mean they want to see him in the ring anymore.

At this point there really isn't anything that Margarito can do to win the fans back and as mentioned a few slides before, it may cost him his job.

Margarito might be willing to die in the ring, but it seems like fans might not be willing to pay to see it happen.

The New York Commission Never Really Stopped Worrying About Margarito's Eye

As mentioned before Margarito got sanctioned to fight in New York after being given the runaround, but considering the way the fight ended it seems like they never really trusted him.

Margarito claims that there was a conspiracy to protect Miguel Cotto which is ridiculous.  It was just the New York boxing commission being overprotective of a fighter who had just recovered from a career-threatening eye injury.

It will be interesting to see if other fights are as hesitant to give Margarito a license like New York and then quickly end fights if the eye is damaged in any way.

The doctors might have acted on their own accord when they stopped the fight, but it's difficult to imagine that knowing about the issues that Margarito had had with the commission before the fight didn't affect their judgement.

It will be interesting to see, should Margarito fight again, if those same choices are made by other commissions.

Bob Arum Did What He Had to for the Fight to Be Made

Bob Arum has been promoting fights for decades and he did everything he needed to from getting Margarito licensed to box again, to getting him cleared to fight in New York, and even convincing Cotto to take the fight.

Originally Cotto wasn't a fan of the idea of a rematch because it would make Margarito more money and not fighting him would be a worse blow than any he could land on him in the ring.

Somehow Arum was able to convince him differently and was able to fix Margarito's image with the public and the powers that be just enough to get him put back into the main event scene.

And he did it twice.

This is actually Margarito's second major fight back since his suspension and the fact that he was able to immediately get a fight with Pacquiao, get beaten and still be considered a serious opponent for Cotto with no fights in-between speaks volumes of Arum's ability to sell a fight.

And the best part for Arum is that because he promotes both fighters he was able to keep all of the profits.  That most certainly is the foremost reason that the rematch was made.

Not for the fans, not for boxing, not even because it was the right thing to do.

It was for the almighty dollar.

And Arum proved that when motivated he can do what needs to be done.

Miguel Cotto Could Face Julio Cesar Chavez Jr Next

As mentioned in the last slide, Arum was able to keep the fight in-house and keep all the proceeds.  It is probably something that he will try to do again with Cotto's next opponent and no one can fault him for it.

However, it does limit Cotto's options in people he can face.  He has already had a battle with Pacquiao who he lost to and a third fight with Margarito doesn't seem to be in the cards.

Arum seems to have already come up with a solution.

Have him fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

It works perfectly from a promotional angle.  Cotto would get a chance at winning a belt in another weight class, the Mexico-Puerto Rico rivalry can be trotted out to use as a means to drum up interest in the match, and Chavez Jr. also has an undefeated record which makes him seem tougher than he is on paper.

The fight itself is probably going to be less than interesting if it happens considering that Chavez Jr. didn't have much of an amateur career and Cotto is a former Olympian.  Chavez Jr. has also had soft opposition for most of his pro career where as Cotto has faced some of the best.

Still the fight showed that Arum will do what he can to hype a fight no matter the opposition and have it be successful.

Let's see if he can do it again.