By Kingsley Walker: The mood I seem to be experiencing after a purely exhilarating boxing fight, which in my mind could go down as the fight of the year with its hype and deliverance is that many seem to be doubting Cotto. The Margarito-Cotto fight I feel lived up to expectations for boxing fans and the hardcore boxing enthusiasts, this was a grueling fight for both warriors as they battled it out, over pride and nationalism all combined and delivered effectively. Although Margarito won, nothing can be taken away from Miguel Cotto..
The first six rounds of this fight Cotto showed to the world why he is rated one of the best pound for pound fighters, he was able to combine boxing skill with ring awareness to pick off Margarito and slowly began building a steady lead. Cotto was hitting Margarito with shots from all angles, when I was watching this and Margarito was being hit I realized that he had one of the best chins in boxing. If Cotto’s opponent had been different then we would have seen an early sixth round finish to the welterweight fight. I heard rumors that many felt Cotto had not prepared fully for this fight and was not training as hard, due to his heavy breathing in the later rounds this is nonsense. It was due to the opponent he had to face with Margarito’s non-stop constant pressure and ability to take numerous amounts of shots this led to the slow deterioration of Cotto’s fighting ability. If you have a fighter who is persistently on top of you and every punch, you throw at him does not affect him your strength, stamina and will begins to deteriorate and this is what happened to Cotto. As the persistent pressure accumulated and Cotto began losing stamina he lost his speed, power and ring maneuverability, which allowed for easy pickings. Eventually leading to the defeat of an honorable boxing champion, who proved he could mix his boxing skills whilst under constant pressure.
I cannot see any reason to start taking anything away from Cotto; he was in the ring with one of the most feared fighters in boxing, and last night we saw why. Respect should be paid to Cotto for taking the Margarito fight and providing us with a great fight for all people with an interest in boxing. Margarito will go on to dominate the welterweight division and I can see a move up in weight class for him, unless we see the return of Mayweather. I hope that this defeat does not deter Cotto from coming straight back and providing us with more great fights and congratulations to Margarito who will be a dominate force at welterweight.