Ringside With Raymundo 11.13.09: Rightfully Wronged

Posted by Raymundo Dioses on 11.13.2009

Was Miguel Cotto rightfully wronged in his loss to Antonio Margarito? If you look at what if led to, maybe... Plus, random thoughts on the happenings in the sport of boxing!


Photo by Laura De La Torre / 411mania.com

After July 26, 2008 no one who knew boxing ever thought Miguel Cotto would be in another high profile fight.

On that day, then WBA welterweight champion Cotto was methodically broken down over eleven grueling rounds by hard hitting Mexican Antonio Margarito in what could be described one of the huge upsets in 2008. Cotto was undefeated heading into the bout, and was thought to be damaged goods after suffering multiple knockdowns in the eleventh round in what turned out to be a TKO loss for the Puerto Rican fighter.

Yet sixteen months after the first loss of his career, now WBO champion Miguel Cotto finds himself defending another version of a welterweight title against the number one rated boxer in the sport, Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on November 14.

Most believe after suffering a loss of that magnitude and in that fashion, that the fighter is a changed person in the ring: gun shy, overtly cautious, no longer fluid in his movement, basically a ‘shot fighter'. Cotto was a 3-1 favorite heading into the Margarito fight, and with one fell swoop, was knocked off the welterweight ladder.

On January 24, 2009 Antonio Margarito sought to defend his newly gained WBA belt against Shane Mosley, and before the fight illegal substances were found in Margarito's hand wraps, which ultimately lead to a TKO loss and 1 year ban from the sport of boxing.

What that night also provided was speculation as to if Margarito had loaded gloves in his previous fight, in which he was able to stop Cotto, a heavy favorite and undefeated fighter.

While nothing could be proven and no physical evidence to attribute to, the popular belief about Margarito was once a cheater, always a cheater. Cotto himself shied away from talking too much about the issue, seeking to move forward and continue his career. With the subsequent course of events occurring following his first career defeat, one could say that Miguel Cotto was rightfully wronged.

Imagine if Cotto would have won the fight against Margarito. It would have been Cotto's 31st victory, and after wins in 2007 over Zab Judah and Shane Mosley, may have been stuck in a ‘Mosley' situation, to where he simply looked too good and built up a formidable resume that fights may have been harder to come by. Added into the fact a Pacquiao fight may have not been made at all if Cotto was victorious over a daunting figure like Antonio Margarito. Cotto may have been considered too off radar for Pacquiao to handle. Thus, no career payday for Cotto, which reports are saying will be about 8 million to fight Pacquiao this weekend.

If Cotto were the undefeated champion at that point, perhaps Floyd Mayweather would have thought twice about coming out of retirement at the time that he did, as the pressure would have been on Mayweather to fight Cotto, a true welterweight that he could make no excuse for not fighting.

Even though it is not proven thought Margarito fought Cotto with loaded gloves, the consensus was that he probably did, and in the blink of an eye Cotto's only loss as a professional turned into a mythical asterisk.

Cotto stayed out of the ring for seven months before taking a return bout against Michael Jennings for the vacant WBO welterweight title in February 2009. Two months later, Cotto parted ways with long time trainer and Uncle Evangelista Cotto after an ugly family fight.

Two more months later, and Cotto stepped up his competition in his 2009 campaign as he took on hard hitter Joshua Clottey in defense of his WBO crown. The Clottey fight was Cotto's entrance back at the big stage of boxing, as Cotto rallied and courageously edged out a decision victory despite fighting most of the fight with a nasty cut above his eye.

Cotto looks hungry leading into this bout with Pacquiao, in where he started training way in advance of his opponent and set up training camp where he felt comfortable in Florida while the Pac Man split time between the weather ravaged Philippines and filming a movie in which he was the starring role, to the hardly controlled chaos of Hollywood and late night talk show appearances.

So here Cotto is now, with an undefeated 2009 record, a new team, and a renewed and refreshed outlook on his boxing career.

Just when everyone thought it was over.

THROUGH MY EYES

Wow, Alfredo Angulo's knockout over Harry Joe Yorgey can definitely win the award for Scary Knockout of the Year. Yorgey was already out on his feet, and was staring up at the sky when another crushing blow came from Angulo, which sent him to the canvas. The referee could have done a better job and saved Yorgey from that final blow. Boxing referees need to do a better job of protecting the fighters, because believe it or not, more boxers die per year than mma fighters… The freaking WBC man. Bans for cussing, they want Mosley to ‘apologize' for something or another, and they want to ban fathers from participating in the corners of their fighting sons. Where the hell does this even come from, anyways? Do WBC officials wake up in the morning and ask themselves, how can we apply junior high school rules to the sport of boxing? The question they need to ask themselves is how the organization better the sport of boxing, not hinder it… So David Haye beat Valuev, which leads to a mandatory against John Ruiz. That could mean that David Haye will be 2-0 in winning the WBA heavyweight title and defending it, yet 0-2 in finding an audience that cares…The WBO proclaimed the Cotto/Pacquiao fight will be for their ‘WBO Super Champion' belt. Wow, they hopped on the WBC bandwagon. In this day and age, you'd think the winner would be happy with all these belts up in hand, the WBC Diamond belt, the WBO regular and Super Champion titles. Trust me, just like the fans, the boxers don't care either… So Diaz v. Malignaggi is all set, and the first press conference was held Nov. 11. It just doesn't matter! It doesn't matter if Malignaggi wins cause he's got no punching power, therefore no quality fight in the future, and Diaz, all he'll be doing is erasing the memory of their last fight, a disputed decision. Okay, okay, okay, I'll finally make my pick for Saturday night. Man, I've been dreading this, since in either fighter you could make a pretty decent argument as to the winner. Cotto. I don't know, KO, decision, I just don't know! Just Cotto…