Fans, experts, writers, gamblers, and shady characters hanging around the tattered fringe of boxing will carefully analyze Miguel Cotto’s Saturday night Madison Square Garden performance against Britain’s Michael Jennings with one question burning on their minds, “Was the Boricua bomber forever damaged by Antonio Margarito?”
Before his welterweight classic with Margarito, Cotto was an undefeated star in the making; a gifted boxer who was never afraid to put his well being on the line inside the ring. His trajectory was on par with iconic Puerto Rican pugilists Felix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez, and Wilfredo Benitez. In his first thirty two fights, Cotto was undefeated and owned twenty-six knock-outs. All was good in Cotto-landia going into the hot Las Vegas evening of July 26, 2008.
Coming off memorable back to back victories against Shane Mosley and Zab Judah, Cotto engaged in a brutual battle with the iron-like Margarito. Through out the fight Cotto was able to unleash his awesome arsenal of punches on Margarito, only to watch the Mexican-American seemingly become stronger and stronger as the fight wore one. Fueled by will or destiny, Margarito’s punches damaged Cotto through the eleven rounds and eventually forced trainer/uncle Evangelista Cotto to throw in the towel.
Miguel Cotto suffered a punishing defeat, the type which leaves one wondering, “did the poor soul leave too much of himself in the ring,” and has not been seen the inside of a ring since that bloody night.
How will Cotto react Saturday? Has the rising star emanating from an boxing crazed island fizzled before reaching its full glory? Jennings – 34 wins, 1 loss, 16 knockouts, with no significant opposition on his resume – has been brought across the pond to serve as a trial horse to Cotto. If Jennings puts up any sort of reasonable resistance in front of a hostile crowd of New Yoricans, it will serve as strong evidence indicating Cotto’s glory days might have been left in the ring against Margarito.
Saturday night will be the preliminary test, or a much larger question for Cotto. Even if Miguel were to conqueror Jennings in impressive manner, the question will remain, “what will happen when he finds himself with a world class opponent, will he have anything left in the tank?”
Cotto vs. Jennings and Kelly Pavlik vs. Marco Antonio Rubio will headline the Saturday night HBO pay per view, promoted by Top Rank with a suggested retail price of $44.95.
The Margarito Saga
Some openly wonder if Margarito, recently suspended by the California State Athletic Commission for attempting to use plaster like hand wraps in a fight with Shane Mosley, also cheated against Cotto. This writer believes it is a mute point, because Team Cotto never complained on July 26, 2008.
A member of Cotto’s corner was in attendance when Margarito’s hands were wrapped, as is customary in boxing. If the person assigned to monitor the wraps did not cry foul on that night, then there are a two explanations: A) Margarito did not cheat B) Margarito cheated and Team Cotto was asleep at the wheel.
If B is the reality, it is too late to bring up any accusations or create conspiracies surrounding Margarito’s hand wraps, even though these questions naturally arise after Margarito was caught red handed earlier this year.
I Predict…
Cotto works Jennings with his strong jab and wicked left hook all night long. Never one to strike with vicious one punch power, Cotto’s damage will accumulate and send Jennings’ back on a transatlantic flight to the U.K. as a late round knock-out victim.
