By Dan Ambrose: WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (36-2, 29 KO’s) wants revenge so bad he can taste it for what he perceived was Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KO’s) coming into the ring with plaster in his hand wraps and “Messing with” his health in their fight in July 2008.
Cotto couldn’t handle Margarito’s pressure and got badly beaten up in an 11th round TKO loss. Cotto now thinks Margarito fought with help from loaded hand wraps, and he wants to pay him back by making him feel pain on December 3d in their rematch.
Cotto said on HBO’s Cotto-Margarito 24/7 episode 2 “I’m going to take advantage of his [bad] eye like he took advantage of the plaster.”
Margarito suffered a broken right orbital bone in his 12 round decision loss to WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao last year in November 2010. Margarito hasn’t fought since then and has undergone two eye operations to repair the damage done to the eye in that fight. Margarito recently passed an eye exam from a doctor appointed by the New York Athletic Commission. Although the Margarito passed the exam, his right eye looks strange, like an eye that’s badly injured in accident.
It’s disappointing to hear Cotto talking about wanting to go after Margarito’s eye when he has zero proof that Margarito fought him with plaster in his hand wraps. For all we know, the only time Margarito had plaster in his hand wraps was before his fight with Shane Mosley in 2009, and the plaster was found before the fight.
There’s no proof, so Cotto should just acknowledge that he was beat by the better fighter in 2008. Margarito’s stamina and his ability to take punishment without quitting was what got him through that fight. He was in much better condition than Cotto and he took a lot of hard shots and still kept coming forward. Cotto could end up targeting the eye for nothing. And by altering his game to go after Margarito’s right eye, Cotto could end up getting hurt. He’s not so good that he can move around and target the right side of Margarito’s face without opening himself up. Cotto isn’t a southpaw, so most of his shots will be landing to the left eye of Margarito, the right. But it’ll be interesting to see how much success Cotto has in going after the eye with Margarito on his tail all night long. Cotto is going to look silly if he’s running all night like he did last time they fought.
http://www.boxingnews24.com/2011/11/cotto-im-going-to-take-advantage-of-margaritos-bad-eye/
