Miguel Cotto’s decade in boxing can be divided into two careers: before and after he faced the loaded gloves of Antonio Margarito.
In November 2009, red stains were discovered on the hand wraps that Margarito used in the Cotto fight; red stains similar to the ones found on the inserts seized before Margarito’s fight with Shane Mosley, when his trainer was discovered to trying to cheat by using the hardened wraps. This raised suspicions that Margarito’s gloves may have also been loaded for Cotto’s fight, and possibly others as well.
To try something like this once, a boxer should not just be thrown out of boxing for life, they should be thrown in jail for attempted murder. Harvard Law-educated Bob Arum saw things differently and rewarded Margarito with a shot against Manny Pacquiao.
For the eight years leading up to that tragic fight against Margarito, Miguel Cotto was someone else. Not only was he an undefeated world champion, perhaps most importantly to his legion of boxing fans, he was Felix “Tito” Trinidad’s heir apparent. Where others would be daunted, Cotto relished the challenge to live up to that legacy. He fought for greatness and knew not just victory, but the quality of those victories were measured against a legend.
