On Saturday night, HBO aired the first episode of their anticipated 24/7 Cotto-Margarito two-part series and there was tension throughout the segment.
One of the many subplots in the lead up to the fight, as Cotto defends his WBA junior middleweight crown against Margarito on December 3rd at a site-to-be-determined, is the fact that some believe Margarito may have cheated during their first fight. Margarito defeated Cotto via 11th round TKO in July of 2008 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, yet one fight later he was found to have tampered hand wraps in the dressing room prior to his 9th round TKO defeat to Shane Mosley.
Speculation has left the question of whether Margarito also hand illegal pads in his wraps during his victory over Miguel, a notion that Cotto has seemed to buy into.
?He used it,? Cotto said as he opened up the 24/7 montage. ?He used the plaster the night of the fight with me. He used and he acted like a criminal.? Advertisement
Later in the episode Cotto would present a photo of Margarito that had been taken after their fight, as the Tijuana fighter was captured celebrating as he was hoisted into the air by one of the corner men. Completely visible the wrap on Margarito?s left hand, which appears as though it may be broken by the middle knuckles.
Cotto continued on, insisting that standard gauze wouldn?t have been able to produce such results.
?No one in the history of boxing can see a hand-wrapping broken over the knuckles,? Miguel would state. ?You never can find an explanation for this little part here. This is supposed to be just gauze and gauze doesn?t get hard.?
While he will never be able to prove Margarito?s guilt, it?s obvious that Cotto simply appears to have disdain for the man and his words highlight this fact.
?Margarito is not gentleman. He?s not a man. For me, Rex, my dog, is more [of a] person than him,? Cotto said dismissively.
Not one to roll over and take a beating, there was plenty of return-fire from Margarito throughout the episode, as he continued to plead his innocence while calling into question Cotto?s character as a fighter.
?What?s he scared of? Why does he cry so much? Why did he sign up for this fight? Maybe he doesn?t have a big heart. I don?t know,? said a bemused Margarito.
The saga continues this Saturday night when the second installment of 24/7 Cotto-Margarito airs this Saturday at 10 PM/ET just before a Boxing After Dark episode headlined by WBC junior middleweight champion Saul Alvarez facing off with former champion Kermit Cintron
