On December 3rd in Madison Square Garden, New York City Puerto Rican icon Miguel Cotto (36-2 with 29 KOs) will defend his WBA 154-pound super championship against three-time world titleholder Antonio Margarito (38-7 with 27 KOs) in a much anticipated rematch of their epic encounter from a little over three years ago. Their first fight was characterized by HBO?s Max Kellerman as a ?modern day classic? and it?s hard to argue with that assessment. Cotto dominated the first half of that fight utilizing his superior speed, athleticism, and boxing skills. He was able to utilize lateral and backward movement and avoid many of Margarito?s punches, while landing one flush shot after another on the durable Mexican?s iron chin. Watching Margarito absorb one hard punch after another without showing any signs of being hurt or slowing down, and then coming back to stop Cotto was a sight to behold. Although he was stopped in his next fight against future Hall of Famer Shane Mosley, Antonio throughout the course of his career has shown an incredible chin and even greater lung capacity to accompany it.
As we all know, prior to the fight with Mosley, Margarito was found to have a hard plaster-like substance in his hand wraps and was subsequently suspended by the California State Commission for a year. Nobody knows when he first began loading his gloves, but common sense tells me that it wasn?t used for the first time against a former lightweight who was coming off a very poor performance against a quasi shot Ricardo Mayorga. My guess is that he began loading his gloves after he lost his WBO Welterweight title to Paul Williams, but could conceivably have begun using them prior to that fight. From a psychological perspective, it is very possible that Cotto knowing that he will be facing a clean Margarito might help cancel out any mental edge that Margarito might have gained from his stoppage victory over him in their first fight. As we all know, boxing is an extremely mental sport and that aspect of the game should never been downplayed or discounted.
