By Robert Jackson: The anticipated Miguel Cotto/Antonio Margarito matchup is 4+ days away and counting. Other than an emotional diatribe to describe how this fight will fare, I’ve decided to present “just the facts”.
One of my fellow writers, may I say brother-in-arms discussed the trainer dynamics of the two fighters and in this category Margarito seems to have an edge, but… as successful as Cotto has been his luke-warm relationship with his trainer/Uncle hasn’t seemed to hurt him and may in-fact help him! A more comfy relationship between Evangelista and Miguel Cotto may serve to make Miguel SOFT..
In the “boxing skill” category, all hail Cotto, he showed much improved skills against Shane Mosley and was quicker to the draw in most of the exchanges, one couldn’t help but notice how quick and accurate his left jab has become during that fight! Margarito’s idea of boxing skills comes down to 3 words “blunt force trauma”!
In the “toughness and durability” category the award goes to… you guessed it Antonio Margarito! Against Killer Kermit one had to admire how well Margo took Cintron’s killer shots and then responded with his own in return. I will say it now that Kermit is a MUCH bigger puncher than, and is at least as accurate as Cotto. The late rounds of the Mosley fight and a couple of rounds during the Judah fight puts Cotto’s durability in question, but the Boriqua found a solution to his problems in both cases.
In the “adaptability category”, a slight advantage has to favor Cotto who has begun to think more in the ring as his career has moved forward as displayed in the late rounds of the Mosley fight. Margarito has a “search and destroy” mentality which requires no etiquette, no calculus, this mentality requires nothing more than crushing, disabling, and conquering his opposition in a non-stop manner! Will Margarito ALLOW Cotto to adapt?
The next category in this discussion will be that of “level of opposition”. With Shane Mosley and Zab Judah on his resume Cotto may be seen as a “step up” opponent for Margarito. Many will say that Margarito’s best wins were over the underacheiving Kermit Cintron and not much else really stands out in way of opposition in Antonio’s “body of work”!
Imponderables, Margarito is HUNGRY for respect being a lifelong co- main event fighter, Antonio is also a lifelong 147lber with some occasional unsuccessful insurgency into the 154lb weight class. Imponderables, Cotto unintentionally extracted himself from danger during the Judah fight with at least 2 “nut shots”, Cotto was also seriously hurt against Ricardo Torres and DeMarcus Corley but weathered the storms and got the WINS!
As I write this piece, the last category I’m really concerned with now is the category 1 or 2 Hurricane Dolly which is off of the eastern coastline of Texas in the Gulf of Mexico, my home is in its path apparently. I know that Cotto/Margarito will be a category 5 storm and I’m going out on a limb while picking Margarito to pick Cotto off by KO or TKO in 6 or 7!