It took him eight professional years to finally get the ‘fight’ that would have defined his career. And it took him three more years to finally get the win he desperately needed. Scoring the sweetest victory of his storied boxing career, Miguel Cotto can finally say that he defeated Antonio Margarito. For the Tijuana native himself, there was a chance for vindication or perhaps exoneration, but the man could only prove one thing in the ring. That he is a true warrior.
This was three years later from their epic classic that took place in Las Vegas, and the wear and tear were apparent on both guys. Still, fans in attendance got a sense that there was something special brewing whenever these two stood across from one another. Margarito entered the ring as the villain, not even slightly overwhelmed by the loud jeer of boos from the Madison Garden crowd. Cotto was the crowd favorite, backed by his avid Puerto Rican and New York fans that cheered tumultuously. One can’t remember the last time the building roared to this effect, probably not since Felix Trinidad downed William Joppy a decade earlier.
From the opening bell, it was clear what the Caguas, PR native’s strategy was. Plaster or no plaster, Cotto respected his rival’s fistic power and fought with more caution than he did in their first battle. It was the simple, stick and move, hit-and-not get hit type of a game plan. For Margarito, all he needed to do was replicate his predictable method of constantly pressuring and cornering Cotto in hopes to wear him down late.
Both fighters were older and slower, but their efforts were highly spirited. In the first three rounds, Cotto was able to side step and land fluid combinations. Margarito ate shots coming in, but was closing the distance as he aimed for his mobile foe to the body. The fifth saw back and forth action, as Margarito poured on and chased Cotto across to ring, digging shots to the midsection and smothering punches to make it a rough fight. Cotto didn’t succumb to pressure and dished back with much cleaner shots.
Perhaps it was obvious from how their first encounter unfolded, but Cotto knew he needed to pitch a perfect game to win this fight. Margarito’s injured eye was reinjured early on, and from the sixth round, there were concerns whether he could continue to fight. The pace picked up in rounds seven and eighth, but more in favor of Cotto, who was using all of his guile and dexterity to pepper his less dimensional foe. Margarito would not fold and often smiled and taunted, but his face told a different story.
In between rounds eight and nine, the doctors at ringside carefully examined Margarito’s right eye. They barely allowed him to continue. Margarito pounded his gloves to psyche himself and his opponent to engage toe-to-toe, but Cotto was smart and stuck with the game plan.
Again, the ringside physician and the ref assessed the Mexican’s condition after the ninth round and after a long plead to continue from Margarito and his corner, referee Steve Smoger did the right and humane thing and called this bout to a halt.
There was a huge sigh of relief from Cotto, who just scored the biggest win of his decorated boxing career. Margarito lost, but fought with a ton of heart and dignity. There was a look of disappointment, but hardly any dejection. He fought like a proud champion and left it all in the ring.
With the W, Cotto retains his WBA version of the jr. middleweight title and improves to 37-2, 30KOs. Margarito is now 38-8, 27KOs.
RIOS LETHARGIC IN STOPPING MURRAY
Things didn’t exactly go smoothly for Oxnard, CA’s Brandon Rios (29-0-1, 21KO) in his first significant trip to New York. First, he lost his WBA title on the scale after failing to make the 135 pound limit. In addition, his opponent, John Murray (31-2, 18KOs) from England didn’t cut him any slack either, providing a difficult challenge for the former lightweight sensation. It wasn’t the usual spirited and lively fought performance by Rios, who appeared sluggish in the first two rounds. Rios got the ball rolling in the third however, stunning his opponent with consecutive uppercuts on the inside and doing nice work to the body. Murray fought back valiantly and troubled his unbeaten foe in the next two rounds. By the fifth, exhaustion clearly showed in Rios, who was obviously in a very tough fight. It didn’t deter him from trying his best which was probably a good thing on the scorecards as he pressed on did his best to effectively win rounds with aggression. Murray was undaunted, but became a bloody mess in the sixth after eating a series of hard uppercuts from his younger counterpart. While Rios looked to be the more tired of the two, he still demonstrated superior technique and work rate that might have benefited him on the official scorecards. Murray was effective in spurts, attacking Rios’ midsection, but lacked the power to inflict real damage. In the eleventh, Rios’ uppercuts finally overwhelmed. Badly staggered, Murray deemed unable to continue, who was stopped on his feet at the 2:06 mark. With the win, Rios remains unbeaten, but is no longer a world title holder.
RODRIGUEZ OUTCLASSES WOLAK
They say boxing, rather than slugging it out is the smarter way to win. That’s what Delvin Rodriguez needed to do this time around to get the official W over his rival Pawel Wolak. It wasn’t the violent jr. middleweight slugfest that their first meeting proved to be, but Rodriguez and Wolak didn’t go too far to find one another, engaging in a closely contested battle over twelve rounds. Both combatants weren’t shy to walk up and down the stairs, landing effective shots to the body and head. Rodriguez appeared to find his comfort zone in the third, connecting with a well timed uppercut to the chin. Wolak did not phase, but like their first encounter, his eye began to redden. Things started to heat up in the fifth as Rodriguez was able to tag his Polish opponent with head snapping upper cuts, but Wolak soon returned the favor in retaliation. Most rounds were hard fought, but Rodriguez seemingly held the edge in terms of technique, cleaner shots, and overall ring generalship. Wolak charged in on the seventh, chasing his opponent and smothering him against the ropes, but Rodriguez was able to clinch and neutralize with shots on the inside. The Danbury, CT native was more relaxed in the eighth, throwing fluid combinations and swiftly moving in and out to avoid damage. Rodriguez relentlessly battered his bloodied foe in the tenth and final around, staggering him with a series of uppercuts and left hooks. Wolak (29-2-1, 19KOs) displayed a ton of heart and was able to survive the onslaught. Official scorecards read 98-91, 98-92, and 100-90 in favor of Rodriguez, who improves to 26-5-3, 14KOs.
JONES DECISIONS LUJAN IN A SNOOZER
Welterweight contender Mike Jones kept extended his unbeaten run to 26-0 (19KOs) by denying the challenge of former Margarito opponent Sebastian Lujan (38-6-2, 24KOs) of Argentina over twelve uneventful rounds. A right hand to the top of the head nearly dropped the Argentinean in the first round. From there on, it was Jones who was outworking his shorter foe with superior reach, landing jabs and occasionally finding his target with right hands. Lujan was able to evade a lot of punches by using his unorthodox stance to juke and jive, but wasn’t effective offensively. In end of the eleventh, Lujan let his guard down and lured Jones to land at will. Scores were 118-110, 119-109 (2x) in favor of the Philadelphian.
Fan favorite Sean Monaghan (11-0, 8KOs) wasted very little time in taking care of business with an impressive stoppage win over Adrian, MI’s Santos Martinez at 2:56 of the second round in cruiserweight action. All it took was a left hook to the body in round two for Long Beach, NY’s Monaghan to quickly dispose of Martinez (2-3, 2KOs) who failed to show any reason for the ref to allow him to continue after getting up from the knockdown.
Unbeaten light heavyweight Chicago prospect Mike Lee (8-0, 5KOs) won an easy fourth round TKO over Denver, CO’s Allen Medina (9-20-1, 1KO). After three one sided rounds, Lee unleashed a series of punches that dropped Medina, prompting the referee to step in to call a halt to the bout.
