SAN DIEGO, Dec 26, 2011 ? Boxing fans got twelve full months of superb competition plus plenty of controversy and a few surprises to spice up the Sweet Science in 2011.
We were treated to some extremely close fights between some of today?s greatest boxers. We saw a few rising stars continue their trip to the top. Revenge, comebacks, courage, and unpredictable moments all fill my Top Ten List of the Best Fights of 2011.
1. Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito II ? December 3, 2011
As predicted, it was an action-packed brawl filled with drama inside and outside the ring. Both fighters gave everything they had. Fans of the sweet science can?t ask for anything more. The script wasn?t written perhaps exactly the way Cotto wanted it, with the fight being stopped just seconds into the 10th round after Margarito?s eye was too damaged to continue, but Cotto got revenge for his previous loss to Margarito two years earlier, tainted by the allegation that Margarito was fighting with loaded gloves. The trash talk leading up to the fight drove up the anticipation, creating a rare sellout at Madison Square Garden. Cotto, noted for his sportsmanship, said after the fight of Margarito, ?He means nothing to me.? Cotto gladly takes the victory and moves on to an exciting future filled with crowd-pleasing fighters like Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Julio Caesar Chavez. Jr., James Kirkland, and Canelo Alvarez.
