By Rob Smith: WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (36-2, 29 KO’s) dropped a bomb shell today during a telephone conference call when he said that he won’t be fighting Antonio Margarito anywhere but in New York. This, of course, puts their scheduled December 3rd HBO pay per view fight in serious jeopardy now, as Margarito has an appointment to have his right eye examined today by a doctor appointed by the New York Athletic Commission.
If Margarito fails that exam, he won’t be licensed to fight in New York. Bob Arum, Cotto and Margarito’s promoter, was hoping to have the fight take place in either Phoenix or Denver if New York refuses to let Margarito fight there. This was Arum’s back up plan to try and salvage the Cotto-Margarito II fight. However, with Cotto now refusing to fight anywhere other than in New York, Arum is in a serious bind.
Cotto told the New York Daily News “”When I signed for the fight with my company to fight Margarito it was for a fight in New York City. I’m not going to present myself to any other state. If New York says Margarito is not able to fight, I have to respect that. I’m not going to fight him anywhere else.”
You have to wonder how much interest Cotto has in fighting Margarito again with a statement like that. Cotto already took a serious beating from Margarito three years ago in an 11th round TKO loss, and Cotto hasn’t looked like the same fighter since then. Although he’s won most of his fights since that time, he’s been very carefully matched by Arum and only put in with one really good fighter – Manny Pacquiao – since that loss. Cotto may feel he needs to fight Margarito in New York in order to get the win.