Cotto, Margarito Triumph
Photo: TOM CASINO
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING closed out its 20th anniversary year with a brilliant welterweight doubleheader Saturday from Boardwalk Hall. In the main event, Miguel Cotto won the vacant World Boxing Association (WBA) 147-pound crown by disposing of fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana by technical knockout at the end of the fifth round. In the co-main event, dynamic power puncher Antonio Margarito retained his World Boxing Organization (WBO) title with a unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey..
Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Inc., in association with Northeast Promotions and Caesars Atlantic City, promoted the stellar night of boxing on SHOWTIME. The bouts aired at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast). Cotto and Quintana, both Puerto Rican, both unbeaten and ranked No. 1 and 2 respectively by the WBA, engaged in a fierce battle right from the opening bell. The opening rounds featured numerous, fast-paced exchanges with both fighters doing effective work.
In the fourth, Quintana delivered some body shots that slowed Cotto’s attack momentarily. But the experience and relentless style of Cotto proved to be too much.
In the fifth, Cotto switched to southpaw and dominated the early part of the round with combinations to the head. Cotto’s quick hands and precise delivery began to cause swelling on both of his opponent’s eyes. Late in the round, Cotto delivered a hook to the liver. Quintana staggered, backed up and went down on one knee, reeling.
When he got to his feet, Cotto scored a second knockdown. Quintana again recovered and survived the final seconds to retreat to his corner.
Referee Steve Smoger stopped the contest between rounds on the advice of the ringside physician.
“I looked at Carlos and he was not responsive,” said Smoger. “The corner was very brave in asking for another round, but the fight was over.”
After the fight, Cotto spoke with SHOWTIME’s Jim Gray in the ring. “The liver shot hurt him. I could feel it. That was the punch that finished the fight.
“I feel great, very comfortable at 147. Puerto Rico is the home of great champions. Felix Trinidad, Wilfredo Gomez, Carlos Ortiz. I dream to one day be like them and I am on my way.”
Cotto remains undefeated at 28-0, 23 KO’s while Quintana, failing in his first world title fight, falls to 23-1, 18 KO’s.
In the opening bout on the telecast, Tijuana, Mexico’s Margarito predicted a war in his bout with the tough and game African challenger. Clottey, of Bronx, N.Y., via Accra, Ghana, was 10-0 with one no-contest in his last 11 fights, and he showed why early on. Ripping short left hooks and jabs with tremendous hand speed, Clottey won the second, third and fourth rounds on two of three scorecards. In the third, he stunned Margarito with a right hand to the head and repeatedly landed four- and five-punch combinations.
But Margarito, traditionally a slow starter, took control in the fifth round. With Clottey covering up and hardly throwing any punches, Margarito began to punish Clottey with a barrage of powerful punches to the body and the head.
After the fourth, Clottey came to his corner complaining of pain in his left hand. From that point, his work rate slowed and he absorbed tremendous punishment for the remainder of the match.
“I hurt my hand in training about two weeks ago,” said Clottey after the bout. “But I wanted to take the fight because I am a warrior. I felt it hurting with my jab. I have a very strong jab. I didn’t want to quit. That is not my style. But once I broke my hand, I could not fight anymore.”
“He showed true grit and heart against a murderous puncher in this fight,” said SHOWTIME analyst Al Bernstein of Clottey, who drops to 30-2, 1 NC, 20 KOs. “It would be right for this young man to get another world title shot in the near future.”
With a relentless, crowd-pleasing style, Margarito dominated the remaining rounds, except the last, on all three judges’ cards.
By scores of 118-109 and 116-112 twice, Margarito improved to 34-4, 1 NC, 24 KO’s.
“Margarito, always the puncher, showed some defensive and technical deficiencies in the fight, something that will not bode well for him in his next fight.”
No doubt, Margarito’s mandatory challenger Paul Williams was watching the bout somewhere on Saturday night.
Margarito agrees to fight Williams
Having watched the Showtime Championship Boxing telecast of WBO Welterweight Champion Antonio Margarito’s hard-fought victory over Joshua Clottey Saturday night, Paul “The Punisher” Williams -- Margarito’s immediate WBO mandatory challenger -- declared that he vows to meet Margarito in the middle of the ring in his next fight. No ducking accusations from either camp. Just two of the top welterweights ready to fight to the finish. Just what boxing fans want..
Margarito (34-4, 24 KOs), whom the undefeated Williams (32-0, 24 KOs) designated as the top target on his way to the welterweight title, set up the showdown with Williams by overcoming Clottey’s fast start and dominating the last eight rounds of the fight in route to a unanimous decision in the seventh defense of his title.
The Tijuana native sounded less than anxious, but willing to say his ‘I do’s’ by agreeing to step into the ring with the hard-hitting Williams in a post-fight interview with Showtime’s Jim Gray.
“If he’s (Williams) the number one ranked contender,” Margarito said through interpreter Felix DeJesus, “then I have to fight him next,” sounding strikingly resolved to being involved in a shot-gun match-up.
“I don’t need him to tell me I’m next,” Williams, whose tireless pursuit of a shot at Margarito will be finally realized, stated. “I couldn’t be any happier being the WBO mandatory and I am in the gym getting ready to put my punishment on him.”
“He likes to fight and everyone knows that I’m all action in the ring,” stated Williams, reflecting on their styles. “All I know is Mr. (manager/trainer George) Peterson and I will bring the title belt to South Carolina in a very exciting slugfest.”
Peterson also watched the Margarito-Clottey fight and came away as convinced as ever that his protégé has the goods to take away Margarito’s title.
“That’s a fight that Paul wants and he has been wanting for the longest time,” Peterson said. “Paul says ‘Look, I want to be the best. Some say Margarito’s the best welterweight out there, so I want to beat him. I want to punish him.’”
Dan Goossen, promoter of Williams, is excited about not only his fighter’s opportunity to win his first world title, but what Williams as a World champion will mean to boxing.
"Bottom line: Paul is ready to take the title from Margarito,” Goossen stated. “I can't wait to present a World champion in Williams that is all-action, all the time, to our great boxing fans. Paul Williams will be a marquee star that will draw many fans, old and new alike, to our sport for many years to come."
“Boxing fans know that when I come in that ring I give 110 percent with my fists blazing,” said Williams, who draws comparisons to Thomas “Hitman” Hearns and who has knocked out his last five opponents. “I’m going to dish out the punishment to Margarito for sure and do it in my non-stop punching fashion.”
Showtime commentator Al Bernstein also feels that Margarito-Williams fight could end up as a toe-to-toe brawl, with the upper hand going to Williams.
"Margarito, always the puncher,” said Bernstein, “showed some defensive and technical deficiencies in the fight, something that does not bode well for him in his next fight (Williams).”
Truly a match for all fans to enjoy.
Antonio Margarito: The Hype is Over!
by Yero Moody: This past weekend was full of great boxing action. Winky Wright v. Ike Quartey, Miguel Cotto v. Carlos Quintana and Antonio Margarito v. Joshua Clottey. These fights were supposed to showcase each fighters talents in the hopes of setting them up for bigger and better fights. Not surprising was the technically precise beating that Winky delivered to Quartey but what was surprising was the poor showing by Margarito against upstart Clottey..
We've heard the chorus of Bob Arum and Antonio Margarito saying loudly and boldly that no one wants to fight because of fear of Margarito! The chorus reached deafening decibels when Floyd Mayweather turned down Bob Arum's offer of $8 million to fight Margarito. Mayweather cited Margarito's poor quality of opposition and lack of drawing power as the reasons he rejected Arum's offer. Immediately Floyd Mayweather became known as "Fraud" Mayweather to many of his detractors.
Bob Arum did a masterful job of turning the focus off of Margarito and placing the focus solely on Mayweather and his rejection of his offer. This in turn got Margarito's name floating off the lips of everyones mouth. Why wasn't Margarito's name being mentioned with such regularity and force prior to this? Why weren't Margarito's fights being viewed in larger venues considering the fact that Margarito has stated several times that he is the best welterweight and "the most feared man in boxing"? Was there any truth to what Mayweather said about Margarito?
I submit to all who now are reading this article that Margarito's fight against Clottey holds the answer to all of the above questions. What I witnessed, as I normally do when watching Margarito's fights, was a defenseless, slow, flat footed, awkward punching one dimensional fighter who is a warrior at heart. The fact that he is a warrior and has faced mediocre talent are the only reasons that he has maintained his WBO championship for this long.
Clottey was able to land his punches at will from every conceivable angle. The first four rounds were thoroughly dominated by Clottey and in the fifth round Clottey just stopped punching all together. This prompted the commentators to suggest that Clottey may be playing opossum. However, when he went back to his corner he immediately stated that he hurt his left hand and from that point on Margarito was able to to gain the advantage and win the fight. I'm not suggesting that that is the only reason Margarito won the fight because no one can know that unless they have psychic abilities and I do not. I am suggesting that Margarito got manhandled easily when Clottey was not hurt and I'm pretty sure that Margarito wants no more of Clottey and Clottey will probably not get a well deserved rematch.
Already the supposed reasons for Margarito's poor performance are swirling. One such reason is that he hurt his wrist as well. However, I don't recall him mentioning that to his cornermen during the fight at all. I do realize that we the audience don't hear everything that is said. Secondly, he looked poor because of his inactivity. I find that very laughable. I realize that inactivity can hurt you but usually when you haven't fought at all for a lengthy stretch and that's not the case with Margarito. When Trinidad, Mosley and De La Hoya had lengthy periods of inactivity they still dominated their opponents when they returned to action against much better opposition than Clottey. That is what elite fighters do.
I like the warrior spirit in Margarito but unfortunately that's not enough to make him an elite level fighter. In this sport all the athletes have a warrior spirit, some more than others of course. Skill is also needed. Margarito has shown time and again that he can be hit at will by slow fighters. His tough chin may make it difficult for someone to get a KO victory but you don't need a KO to win in this sport. All it takes is to do what Clottey was able to do so easily. That is use good defense and counter. Clottey does not possess the defensive skills of a Mayweather or a Winky Wright but he was able to simply use his gloves to block Margarito's slow, easily timed punches up until the time he broke his left hand.
I've realized for quite sometime, as have many others, that Margarito is not an elite level fighter. He shines on ESPN 2 and various smaller venues but he doesn't have what it takes to reach star status as a fighter. I'm not saying these things to belittle him or his fans but these are just the facts as I see it right now.
When you call yourself the best welterweight and "the most feared man in boxing" you had better be exceptional and Margarito is not. I always felt that Floyd Mayweather would destroy Margarito in dominating fashion but I'm not one who enjoys watching lopsided beatings. He has absolutely no chance of beating Mayweather unless Mayweather hurts both his hands. If Margarito chooses to relinquish his WBO belt to avoid fighting Paul Williams his mandatory challenger, I'll know not only is he a hippocrate but he is the real fraud! I predict that Paul Williams will beat Margarito and "officially" bring this hype to an end where it needs to be.
