In July of 2008, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto fought in probably the most unforgettable fight of this era. After taking in the very best that Cotto brought to the ring, Margarito eventually stopped he Puerto Rican fighter on the 11th round via TKO. However, with the discovery of illegal hand wraps that Margarito used before his fiht versus Shane Mosley, everything he had accmplished in his boxin career was cast with doubts by everyone.
And that includes Miguel Cotto.
During an interview in the upcoming fight's press tour, Miguel Cotto showed to the media a picture of Margarito that was taken right after their 2008 fight.
"Right after my fight," said Cotto while showing the picture on his phone.
"Is that suspicious or not?" he asked rhetorically. "You ever see a hand wrap break on itself?"
Miguel Cotto is ultimately convinced that Antonio Margarito cheated. What had happened in that fight is not right. Margarito did what he is not supposed to do. And what makes it more painful is that Cotto had suffered his first defeat in his boxing career.
Cotto vs Margarito II is clearly built on the main storyline about a fghter who is looking to get redemption against an enemy that permanently changed the arc of his boxing career, the villainous cheater who many think should be stripped of his boxing license for his whole lifetime and should not be given the chance at any multimillion-dollar paychecks.
Margarito is indeed the bad guy in this drama.
In light of his lopsided loss to Manny Pacquiao last November when Margarito suffered a broken right eye socket, nearly ending his career- for a short spell, it did. "Tony actually retired. He called me and said, ’Sergio, I’m retiring. Let Bob Arum know.’ So he actually came out of retirement. That eye injury wasn’t good. We weren’t hearing what we wanted to hear [from the doctors]."
After going to an eye specialist in a last-ditch effort for answers at the behest of Bob Arum, they went through a procedure and were eventually given the green light to proceed.
"After the Pacquiao fight, I thought it was the end of my career," said Margarito, through his other co-manager, Francisco Espinoza, "but thanks to God, I’m back. I’m very excited, even more excited this time around to fight Cotto."
This fight wasn’t the easy to negotiate. There were the harsh feelings that Cotto had toward Margarito, first and foremost. Arum said flatly," He’s pissed at Margarito, didn’t want Margarito to make money off his back- simple as that." What did change things was an economic reality that was presented to him from the veteran promoter. "I turned him because I said, "Miguel, you’re going to make a lot of money from this fight. Let’s not talk nonsense."
Simply put, not only was this the best option, it was the only one.
Catchweight
When asked why he wanted a catchweight for this fight despite being the WBA junior middleweight titlist, Cotto responded, "But why didn’t he say anything when he fought Pacquiao and Pacquiao made him make150? I just wanted 152. Forget about money; I’m going to put things my way, no matter what."
The fight has a weight limit of 153 pounds.
Cotto vs Margarito II is scheduled on December 3 at the Madison Square Garden.
Tune in to this site for the Cotto vs Margarito livestream.
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