Well, I now finally see why Margarito has long been considered the most avoided fighter in his weight class. I couldn't see it just because he demolished Kermit Cintron twice...because he'd been outpointed by Paul Williams. But now I see it. I see why no one would want to fight him. He is unbreakable.
See...Paul Williams didn't really try to fight him. He tried to outwork him...and he did. A fast starter whom Margarito clearly underestimated, Williams put 5 or 6 rounds of a 12 round fight in the bank before Margarito really got his motor running. Even then, Williams was punching Margarito so often that his workrate style trumped Margarito's own. That's quite a feat and one I doubt we'll get to see Williams duplicate because after defeating Margarito...who'd want to fight him again?
Now...Miguel Cotto was 32-0 coming in. He is one of the hardest hitters pound-for-pound that I've ever witnessed. As he's progressed, I've watched fighter after fighter wilt under the weight of his fists. Some men just hit harder than others and he is one of the former. He's the kind of fighter who lands an equal number of blows as his opponent, but by round 4 or 5, the opponent looks like he's been through a meat grinder. His body shots buckle knees and his head shots wobble and drop championship level fighters. Shane Mosley withered under his attack. A game Zab Judah was worn to a nub and dispatched. Floyd Mayweather retired rather than have to face him.
Antonio Margarito meanwhile came in at 36-5. With that record, he seemed beatable. He was an 5-8 underdog at fight time. The predictions (including my own of a decision for Cotto) looked dead on as he was outboxed round after round. By the end of the fight, he was way behind on my card, even as he pressed the fight against the constantly retreating Cotto. That's because for his aggressiveness, he ate clean hard shot after clean hard shot. These were tee off hooks and straight rights flush to the jaw. Each one of these are shots that Cotto had used to drop lesser men. Unbelievably, he walked right through them. And he didn't walk through ten or twenty over the first 8 rounds or so...he walked through at least a hundred absolutely crisp head shots, thrown with bad intentions by what I still consider the hardest hitter in the division. He wore down Cotto by proving to him that he wasn't going to be hurt by being hit in the head. I think he broke Cotto's will, not by hitting him, but by walking through so many of his best shots. Quite frankly, it's an outcome that shocked me.
The reason it shocked me so thoroughly is that, given what I've seen Cotto's power do to lesser men (still championship level fighters, mind you), I didn't think that any fighter could absorb that kind of attack and look nearly as unfazed as Margarito looked as he followed Cotto around the ring, pressing the fight until he broke Cotto's will. To his credit, HBO announcer Emmanuel Steward kept saying he felt Margarito was gaining momentum at a time when I only saw the man absorbing punishment. I sometimes think that Steward hedges his bets, but this time I was wrong. HBO's Jim Lampley and Steward both wondered aloud whether Cotto could keep up the pace that he was forced to set in the first several rounds of counterpunching and dancing away as Margarito advanced determinedly. They implied that it was Cotto, who was landing dozens of hard shots to Margarito's head and slipping away from trouble, who stood to wear down from the pace. That seemed absurd to me. Clearly, I was wrong.
It took until round 7 on my card for Margarito to win a round (though I appear to have been alone in that, judging by the official scorecards, read by Lampley at fight's end). I only gave rounds 7 and 8 to Margarito before he took Cotto down by TKO in the 11th. Going into the 11th, I therefore had it 98-92 for Cotto. I still feel like that was the fight I saw, but I fear my regard for Cotto had me only watching him. While my scorecard often differs dramatically from HBO "unofficial ringside scorer" Harold Lederman (and it did this time too as he had it 95-95), I rarely am concerned about that. However, the official judges' scorecards read 96-94 Margarito, 96-94 Margarito and 95-95 even. That makes me think that they saw a lot that I failed to see. Of the 8 rounds that I gave to Cotto, I saw 4 of them as close rounds, so I imagine all of those must have gone the other way on the official cards. All of that said, it's academic.
Cotto, visibly hurt in the last ten seconds of a 10th round that he had otherwise pretty cleary won (I gave it to him), came out in the 11th trying to buy himself time. Margarito sensed it and pressed his advantage, raining down blows. It was too much too early in the round for Cotto. He not only had become battered and bloody the way he'd rendered so many of his own opponents, I think that he had been bewildered for a few rounds as to why his clean head shots hadn't slowed Margarito's attack. That bewilderment turned to despair when he realized that not only could he not hurt him, but he couldn't take a moment off to gather himself. Margarito was relentless. After a taking a knee twice in the 11th, Cotto's own corner was on the ring apron with a towel to stop the punishment. Not getting carried out on a stretcher may count for something, but the proud Cotto left the ring quickly and refused HBO's effort to interview him.
What remains to be seen is whether Cotto, after having humbled so many good and great fighters similarly, can bounce back. Some fighters are never the same after discovering that not only can they not chop down every opponent they face, but that they themselves are vulnerable. Cotto was rightly judged to be absolutely in his prime. He was not diminished by time or trial. He is 27 years old, was undefeated and physically peaking. To be defeated in that prime can be devastating for a fighter who had good reason to believe he was the best in the world. That said, I hope he seeks a rematch.
If he does...what can he do differently? Let's start off with the truth: there may be nothing he can do that will beat Margarito. What Jim Lampley referred to part of the way through the fight as Margarito's "legendary beard" may actually have understated it. I've got to believe that if Margarito can walk through that many of Miguel Cotto's best head shots, then there is no one who can knock him out...or even hurt him. At least not the way Cotto tried.
How to do it differently? Well...for one thing...it's a mystery to me why Cotto seemed to not even try to use what is widely touted as his best asset: his body attack. I've seen him crumple tough fighters with a single body shots. It could be that he found Margarito's head such an easy target that he never even thought to meaningfully try. It could be that Margarito's pressure combined with the availability of his head made it impossible ...or at least very difficult. Still, that doesn't adequately explain to me why Cotto didn't even really try. The old boxing maxim "kill the body and the head will die" seemed to be Cotto's stock in trade. He's always been a fighter who went to the body in order to diminish his opponent. This time he didn't. Would it work? hard to say. Certainly, we now know what doesn't: head shots. I guess Cotto could have asked the arguably equally heavy handed Kermit Cintron, who has wilted twice under Margarito's rock headed pressure (and to no one else's...ever). I could imagine Cintron sitting at home, watching the fight on TV and feeling vindicated: "see??? you can't hurt him!! his head's like a rock!!!"
In any case, there's a new sheriff in town and his name is Antonio Margarito. If you want to take his badge, don't bring a bazooka to shoot him in the head because he'll walk right through it. You better come prepared for a long night, be so well conditioned as to be able to stay away and outbox him for 12 rounds ...oh...and don't lose focus or you'll be staring up at the lights. I wonder if Oscar De La Hoya has one last such fight in him. Let's hope so. Margarito just legitimately made himself the man who beat the man (that Mayweather retired so he wouldn't have to fight...either of them, actually) and this sets up as a storybook way for Oscar to go out. Bet he does. Oscar beats Margarito, in my judgment. He can outbox him...as long as he doesn't lose focus. Good thing for us, that's just the kind of challenge that Oscar likes. Margarito all but called him out at fight's end. Let's hope they make that fight.
See...Paul Williams didn't really try to fight him. He tried to outwork him...and he did. A fast starter whom Margarito clearly underestimated, Williams put 5 or 6 rounds of a 12 round fight in the bank before Margarito really got his motor running. Even then, Williams was punching Margarito so often that his workrate style trumped Margarito's own. That's quite a feat and one I doubt we'll get to see Williams duplicate because after defeating Margarito...who'd want to fight him again?
Now...Miguel Cotto was 32-0 coming in. He is one of the hardest hitters pound-for-pound that I've ever witnessed. As he's progressed, I've watched fighter after fighter wilt under the weight of his fists. Some men just hit harder than others and he is one of the former. He's the kind of fighter who lands an equal number of blows as his opponent, but by round 4 or 5, the opponent looks like he's been through a meat grinder. His body shots buckle knees and his head shots wobble and drop championship level fighters. Shane Mosley withered under his attack. A game Zab Judah was worn to a nub and dispatched. Floyd Mayweather retired rather than have to face him.
Antonio Margarito meanwhile came in at 36-5. With that record, he seemed beatable. He was an 5-8 underdog at fight time. The predictions (including my own of a decision for Cotto) looked dead on as he was outboxed round after round. By the end of the fight, he was way behind on my card, even as he pressed the fight against the constantly retreating Cotto. That's because for his aggressiveness, he ate clean hard shot after clean hard shot. These were tee off hooks and straight rights flush to the jaw. Each one of these are shots that Cotto had used to drop lesser men. Unbelievably, he walked right through them. And he didn't walk through ten or twenty over the first 8 rounds or so...he walked through at least a hundred absolutely crisp head shots, thrown with bad intentions by what I still consider the hardest hitter in the division. He wore down Cotto by proving to him that he wasn't going to be hurt by being hit in the head. I think he broke Cotto's will, not by hitting him, but by walking through so many of his best shots. Quite frankly, it's an outcome that shocked me.
The reason it shocked me so thoroughly is that, given what I've seen Cotto's power do to lesser men (still championship level fighters, mind you), I didn't think that any fighter could absorb that kind of attack and look nearly as unfazed as Margarito looked as he followed Cotto around the ring, pressing the fight until he broke Cotto's will. To his credit, HBO announcer Emmanuel Steward kept saying he felt Margarito was gaining momentum at a time when I only saw the man absorbing punishment. I sometimes think that Steward hedges his bets, but this time I was wrong. HBO's Jim Lampley and Steward both wondered aloud whether Cotto could keep up the pace that he was forced to set in the first several rounds of counterpunching and dancing away as Margarito advanced determinedly. They implied that it was Cotto, who was landing dozens of hard shots to Margarito's head and slipping away from trouble, who stood to wear down from the pace. That seemed absurd to me. Clearly, I was wrong.
It took until round 7 on my card for Margarito to win a round (though I appear to have been alone in that, judging by the official scorecards, read by Lampley at fight's end). I only gave rounds 7 and 8 to Margarito before he took Cotto down by TKO in the 11th. Going into the 11th, I therefore had it 98-92 for Cotto. I still feel like that was the fight I saw, but I fear my regard for Cotto had me only watching him. While my scorecard often differs dramatically from HBO "unofficial ringside scorer" Harold Lederman (and it did this time too as he had it 95-95), I rarely am concerned about that. However, the official judges' scorecards read 96-94 Margarito, 96-94 Margarito and 95-95 even. That makes me think that they saw a lot that I failed to see. Of the 8 rounds that I gave to Cotto, I saw 4 of them as close rounds, so I imagine all of those must have gone the other way on the official cards. All of that said, it's academic.
Cotto, visibly hurt in the last ten seconds of a 10th round that he had otherwise pretty cleary won (I gave it to him), came out in the 11th trying to buy himself time. Margarito sensed it and pressed his advantage, raining down blows. It was too much too early in the round for Cotto. He not only had become battered and bloody the way he'd rendered so many of his own opponents, I think that he had been bewildered for a few rounds as to why his clean head shots hadn't slowed Margarito's attack. That bewilderment turned to despair when he realized that not only could he not hurt him, but he couldn't take a moment off to gather himself. Margarito was relentless. After a taking a knee twice in the 11th, Cotto's own corner was on the ring apron with a towel to stop the punishment. Not getting carried out on a stretcher may count for something, but the proud Cotto left the ring quickly and refused HBO's effort to interview him.
What remains to be seen is whether Cotto, after having humbled so many good and great fighters similarly, can bounce back. Some fighters are never the same after discovering that not only can they not chop down every opponent they face, but that they themselves are vulnerable. Cotto was rightly judged to be absolutely in his prime. He was not diminished by time or trial. He is 27 years old, was undefeated and physically peaking. To be defeated in that prime can be devastating for a fighter who had good reason to believe he was the best in the world. That said, I hope he seeks a rematch.
If he does...what can he do differently? Let's start off with the truth: there may be nothing he can do that will beat Margarito. What Jim Lampley referred to part of the way through the fight as Margarito's "legendary beard" may actually have understated it. I've got to believe that if Margarito can walk through that many of Miguel Cotto's best head shots, then there is no one who can knock him out...or even hurt him. At least not the way Cotto tried.
How to do it differently? Well...for one thing...it's a mystery to me why Cotto seemed to not even try to use what is widely touted as his best asset: his body attack. I've seen him crumple tough fighters with a single body shots. It could be that he found Margarito's head such an easy target that he never even thought to meaningfully try. It could be that Margarito's pressure combined with the availability of his head made it impossible ...or at least very difficult. Still, that doesn't adequately explain to me why Cotto didn't even really try. The old boxing maxim "kill the body and the head will die" seemed to be Cotto's stock in trade. He's always been a fighter who went to the body in order to diminish his opponent. This time he didn't. Would it work? hard to say. Certainly, we now know what doesn't: head shots. I guess Cotto could have asked the arguably equally heavy handed Kermit Cintron, who has wilted twice under Margarito's rock headed pressure (and to no one else's...ever). I could imagine Cintron sitting at home, watching the fight on TV and feeling vindicated: "see??? you can't hurt him!! his head's like a rock!!!"
In any case, there's a new sheriff in town and his name is Antonio Margarito. If you want to take his badge, don't bring a bazooka to shoot him in the head because he'll walk right through it. You better come prepared for a long night, be so well conditioned as to be able to stay away and outbox him for 12 rounds ...oh...and don't lose focus or you'll be staring up at the lights. I wonder if Oscar De La Hoya has one last such fight in him. Let's hope so. Margarito just legitimately made himself the man who beat the man (that Mayweather retired so he wouldn't have to fight...either of them, actually) and this sets up as a storybook way for Oscar to go out. Bet he does. Oscar beats Margarito, in my judgment. He can outbox him...as long as he doesn't lose focus. Good thing for us, that's just the kind of challenge that Oscar likes. Margarito all but called him out at fight's end. Let's hope they make that fight.
