All eyes on Antonio Margarito

In a little over 2 months Miguel Cotto will step in the ring for the second time with Antonio Margarito.

In 2008 Cotto was an undefeated Welterweight title holder with an undefeated record and 26 Knockouts. Cotto was coming off of wins against Zab Judah and Shane Mosley; he was ranked #1 in the Welterweight division and was considered a top 10 pound for pound.

Antonio Margarito was a boxer who was known for heavy hands and a typical aggressive Mexican fighting style. Margarito was coming off a two fight win streak and a loss coming by the hands of Paul Williams 18 months earlier.

Many considered Margarito a fighter that was tough and gritty but lacked the skills Cotto possessed. Margarito was considered to be too slow but many expected Margarito to put on a good fight with Cotto however in the end Cotto’s power and ring generalship would take over, much like Paul Williams did against Margarito.

In the beginning, Cotto established he was the better fighter battering Margarito with combos and power shots throughout the first half of the fight. Cotto kept his distance with his movement and never allowed Margarito to get in too close without getting hit with a shot or two. However as much as Cotto landed, Margarito still pressed the action, kept stalking and allowed himself to get hit while slowly connecting with his own shots in the middle rounds.

Then in what has become typical fashion, Cotto started to show signs of slowing down and showed signs of being gassed. In the 7th round Margarito landed numerous body shots and uppercuts that hurt Cotto; Margarito stalked Cotto around the ring throwing 130 punches and landing 48 punches with 46 of the 104 power shots also landing on Cotto in the 7th round. It was a round that would signal the end of Cotto’s reign. The next three rounds played out in similar fashion, Cotto trying to create distance between himself and Margarito only to get caught on the ropes and took more punishment from Margarito every time he tried to stop and stand his ground. In the 9th Max Kellerman stated on the telecast that Cotto was in “survival mode” and Cotto seemed to look as if he wanted the fight to end. Margarito looked as if he was just getting started and throughout the 9th round kept applying pressure and seemed as if he was one shot away from knocking Cotto out.

Heading into the Championship rounds (10-12) the fight was still highly competitive, with Margarito coming back in the second half of the fight, yet Cotto was still leading on 2 judges’ scorecards and showed resilience going into the 10thround. However at the end of the 10th Cotto absorbed over a dozen unanswered shots and his body and face showed the wear of the last ten rounds. In the start of the 11th Margarito kept the pressure on Cotto and pushed the pace stalking Cotto and connecting with body shots and his right. Cotto tried to stand his ground once more only to finally take a knee from the continuous amount of damage he had taken especially within the last 4 and a half minutes of the fight. Cotto would get up and made every effort to make it to the end of the round however Margarito had other plans as he attacked Cotto from one neutral corner to the next, Cotto simply had enough. As he backed up into the corner before taking another shot from Margarito he wisely took a knee.

A bloodied and battered Cotto and his corner called off the bout in the 11th round.

In the other corner Margarito’s team would celebrate and carry their newly crowned champion on their shoulders. Boxing had found a new and exciting fighter.

However the love fest with Margarito would be short lived. Almost 6 months to the day, Margarito would face Shane Mosley in the Staples Center. It was a fight that had fight fans curious to see, Mosley was coming off a tough 12rd TKO of Ricardo Mayorga and many wondered if Mosley had anything left in the tank.

But before Margarito and Mosley could get into the ring, there had been some new finding and issues in Margarito’s camp that came to light. Mosley’s corner discovered that Margarito’s wraps to be harder than they should be, upon further inspection a plaster like substance was found. The fight would go on as scheduled. Only this time, Margarito would not be a resilient. Margarito would be stopped in the 9th round. However, Margarito took a good amount of punishment leading up to the stoppage.

The loss was the last thing people wanted to talk about and numerous reports and conversations were directed at what exactly was in Margarito’s wraps immediately after the fight. Could it be what many people believe is the most vile and disgusting thing boxing cheats could do? Is there a way Paris of plaster had made its way back in the hands of a fighter just as it did with Luis Resto did against Billy Collins in 1983? The California Athletic State Commission would send the substance to a laboratory for testing and the world had to wait if their fears were correct. While fans were waiting to find out the results of the substance, Margarito and his trainer Javier Cepetillo had to go in front of the CASC to confront their issues on the night of January 24th2009. Margarito claimed he had no idea that his hands were being illegally wrapped, a statement his trainer would confirm to as well, admitting the he was the only one that knew and Margarito was not involved in any way. The CASC would find that even though Margarito may not have known his hands were illegally being wrapped he was still responsible for his hands and should have been aware something was not right. The punishment resulted in a one year ban for both Margarito and his trainer. The lab testing conducted that it was a plaster like substance that was in the wraps of Margarito.

Fast forward almost three years later.

December 3rd at Madison Square Garden Miguel Cotto will have a chance to right his first pro loss when he faces Antonio Margarito. While Margarito was only caught with the plaster like substance in the Mosley fight, many Believe that with the way the plaster wraps looked, old and worn that the Mosley fight was not the first time Margarito had used them. Many including Cotto will state that while they can’t confirm Margarito used anything illegal against him in their first fight that something was not “right”. At a recent press conference held for the fight, Cotto showed a picture of Margarito’s wraps from their first fight. Margarito’s wraps looked as the wraps had broke while in the glove, the question is how did the wrap in the glove break as it appears in the picture? It is not a common thing to happen and leads to the questions if wraps don’t break on their own than how or what was inside to make it happen?

In the next two months there will be little Antonio Margarito will be able to hide with all the coverage and questions that will surround him and the fight; it will be difficult for him to be nothing but on his best behavior. Will there be any issues with how he will be able to maintain the constant scrutiny of every wrap, every little detail that goes into getting Margarito prepared for this rematch specifically? Margarito, right or wrong will be closely watched by the media, fans and especially Cotto’s camp. In two months Cotto and the fans will get to see if the first fight was correct or will Cotto defeat a clean(er) Margarito? While Margarito still maintains his innocence and complete stance that he never cheated, many believe that he used the wraps in the first fight with Cotto and look forward to Cotto righting a wrong that has been done to him.

From this writers perspective Cotto will come out on the losing end once again.

Cotto is a talented fighter, he has shown over the last decade to be a respected former world champion and there is no denying that. However, Cotto is not a 12 round fighter, never has been. Cotto will try and do the same thing he did in the first fight which was to use his feet, set up his jab, land solid combos and then stay on the outside of the straight forward Margarito. However as the old saying goes “style makes fights” and Cotto seems to be tailor made for Margarito. Throw in Magarito’s trainer Robert Garcia, who has done a solid job with almost all his fighters and I believe that this is Margarito’s fight to lose. The first half of the fight Cotto should build a solid lead, but just like the first fight, Cotto will gas. When that happens, expect Margarito to keep constant pressure and a strong body attack to slow down Cotto. Margarito will probably use the body attack from the onset and will try and get Cotto out of the fight early. However Cotto has a solid chin and he is a smart boxer, I would expect Cotto to survive to the final bell. However lose a split or majority decision.

And then…

Margarito may or may not have known what he was in his wraps, however no matter what the REAL truth is, most people will always believe that he was fully aware of what was in his wraps and for that he should have a lifetime ban. Paris of plaster or any foreign object in a fighter’s glove is serious business and the result could be deadly for an unsuspecting fighter. It’s hard for me to believe 100% that Margarito had no idea something was going on. Margarito’s hands are his tools of his trade and those are the most valuable possessions a fighter has. In any profession that requires your hands as being your bread and butter, people take care of their hands. Ask a wide receiver or a pitcher how important their hands are. Boxing is no different. Perhaps Margarito was oblivious, maybe he put that much faith in his trainer who ultimately failed Margarito and will always be known as a fighter who almost went into a fight with a foreign substance in his gloves that was there for one reason. Inflict as much damage as possible.

However if Cepetillo was that dirty he was also very good at passing this plaster into the gloves, as Mosley’s trainer and the individuals who oversee that nothing illegal gets put into the wraps all missed the initial substance being placed in the wrap. If this was one time thing then Richardson (Mosley’s trainer who first found the substance) was doing exactly what he needed

to do, protect his fighter. If this was not the first time, then you have to ask yourself, how did Cepetillo do it all the other times? Any athletic commission that signed off on Margarito’s wraps and the individuals overseeing the fighters to every other trainer that okayed Margarito to face their fighter failed. In the end perhaps Cepetillo was that mischievous and sneaky. Only Margarito knows the truth.