Quijano: Can Cotto bring back the snarl in him?

Saturday, December 3, 2011

IF THERE’S a fight you hardly need to hawk, Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito II is ineffably a no-brainer.

It’s got all the makings of a classic duke-out. As far as rematches go, there’s no lack of motivation for either man.

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For Cotto, it’s an opportunity to exact revenge over an opponent who handed him his first loss and a brutal one at that.

Ahead on points in the early rounds, Cotto boxed beautifully. Then the “Tijuana Tornado” gradually took over, hurting Cotto repeatedly with brutal body shots and wicked uppercuts.

By the ninth round, Cotto was spitting blood. By the 10th, the dog was beaten out of him. In the 11th, he could not take any more.

HAND WRAPS. Margarito basked in the macho glow of the aftermath as he had come into the fight the underdog, and beaten a man entrenched at the top five of the sport’s pound-for-pound rankings.

But unexpectedly, Margarito lost to Shane Mosely badly by TKO, and to make matters worse, he was found to have attempted to sneak in a plaster-like substance in his hand wraps prior to the fight.

Immediately, all his previous wins were cast in a pall of nebulous doubt.

Did he use those pads in the Cotto fight? How far back in his career has he been cheating?

BAD BLOOD. For Margarito his motivation for the fight is redemption, as despite being meted a suspension for the serious infraction, he has steadfastly maintained his innocence.

The build-up to the fight has been anything but pleasant. Cotto branded Margarito a criminal, and promised to target the latter’s recently repaired orbital bone.

Margarito has retorted by saying it doesn’t matter as Cotto hits like a girl.

Ouch!

MY TAKE. I am hesitant to accuse Margarito of any wrongdoing in their first fight. As a lawyer I am trained to go by the evidence, and eschew speculation.

Sans any tangible proof that he was using padded wraps in their first fight, he is presumed innocent.

Which brings me to my point. Even assuming that Margarito padded his gloves, it was not only the damage that was being done to Cotto that eventually made him capitulate.

Even while he was getting bludgeoned, he was fighting back and hitting Margarito with good shots.

The problem is that Margarito seemed impervious to the punishment and soldiered on and was able to dish out a violent beating of his own.

This invincibility eventually led to Cotto’s demise and the Mexican’s superior mental fortitude comes into play again in the rematch.

I fervently believe that Margarito ruined Cotto’s psyche in that savage encounter and the latter was never the same fighter again.

Moreover, style-wise, Cotto’s patient, deliberate posture seems perfectly suited for Margarito’s irreverent, brawling ways.

I’m a sucker for happy endings and I wish Cotto could gain revenge for what Margarito did, but I think the latter is mentally tougher than him.

My heart goes out to Cotto, but I think Margarito repeats over him in a brutal war.

FIGHT SKED. As the year winds down, it seems like we still have a lot to look forward to for the Yuletide season. Yes, there’s still a lot of giving and taking set to take place.

Of course, on the local front, Pinoy Pride X is set to explode at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu on Dec. 10 as Boom Boom Bautista takes on undefeated Mexican knockout artist Miguel Angel Mendoza.

The next day in Pasig City, Brian Viloria defends his WBO flyweight title against the formidable Giovanni Segura.

Then just before Santa does his rounds, we have the finale of the Showtime Super Six super middleweight champion as unbeaten Andre Ward takes on the loquacious Carl Froch.

Excuse me, while I put on a bib.

LAST ROUND. It’s on Marlene Navarro-Mondoñedo of The Tinderbox who recently celebrated her birthday. Cheers!

(jingo_quijano@yahoo.com)