Not disagreeing with that, but heart is in the head. Psychologically he had never been to that place before, and it takes a brilliant and calm mind to address that in the middle of a fight. Thats possibly where the corner let him down.
You would think he has addressed some of those issues.
You can not underestimate the advantage plaster would have, and the affect on Cotto’s thinking. He would have been prepared for some hard hitting, but he was probably thinking, “this guy is a freak” and was not prepared. It made a fucking humongous difference if it was the case. This has been backed up by his poor punching performances after and evidence that he wasn’t a big hitter in his early career, despite his freakish size, range and leverage advantage.
Martin Murray was very unlucky not to take Felix Sturm’s world middleweight title last night. It was judged a draw, with this viewer convinced Murray had done enough.
That’s 2 fights in a row where Sturm has been blessed to hold onto his belt.
Maybe so, should be a great fight irrespective. I’m going for Margarito to win again, I think it will go similar to the first fight, Cotto outboxing Margarito early on but as the fight goes on Margarito will close off Cotto’s space and stalk him up against the ropes. Margarito targeted the body relentlessly before switching upstairs in the latter rounds from what I can remember of the first fight. Hope it’s as good as the original.
The fact that Margarito hasn’t fought in over a year is bound to count against him. On top of that, he’s taken two serious beatings since then, particularly the one from Pacquiao. In fact, he hasn’t really impressed at all since the Cotto fight. Cotto at least has beaten Clottey since then (albeit controversially). Margarito was a brawler at the best of times, you’d have to question how accurate his punching is going to be having been out of the ring for that long. You’d have to wonder if the fact that he didn’t even bother with a warm up fight means he knows the eye injury has all but finished his career and this is just one last payday?
Maybe, but maybe not. I think Cotto wants to win this fight more than he’s ever wanted to win a fight before. He fucking hates Margarito. That defeat must have been seriously traumatic, especially considering how incredibly brutal it was. Aside from the physical damage though, it robbed Cotto of his ascension to true greatness where everyone thought he belonged. The supreme boxer battered by a ‘criminal’ brawler.
As much as he wants it though, I reckon he’s scared of what Margarito might do to him if the fight falls into the same pattern as the last one. He can bring up the illegal wraps all he wants but he has to know he gave Margarito all the beating he could give and he didn’t even slow him down. It has to be terrifying to see this cunt keep coming like the fucking terminator no matter what you do to him.
Whether Margarito is still that guy or not is the big question. If he is then he’ll probably knock Cotto out again. If not, then Cotto will probably outscore him and win a UD, if he doesn’t do enough damage to that right eye first.
It’s a great match up in any case. Margarito is like a cartoon villian, and Cotto is the golden boy, and as easy as it is to hate Margarito, the fact that it’s the black sheep taking on the world will have a lot of people secretly rooting for him as well. It’s really just boxing that gives you occasions like this.
I was a big fan of Margarito before the hand wrap fiasco came to light. Cotto needs to get in and out, I think he will be fearful of going toe-to-toe with Margarito given he has taken his best before without knocking a frown out of him. Margarito has all the psychological edges here, he’s beaten him before, taken his best and as much as Cotto is out for vengeance, Margarito is out show everybody it wasn’t just the wraps that beat Cotto.
Didn’t Arum have to offer Cotto massive money to take the fight? In fairness you wouldn’t blame him for not wanting to go through that again. But maybe Margarito’s fights with Mosley and Pacquiao have convinced him that Margarito has nothing left. I suppose no one really knows until they start trading punches. Either fighter might not have the heart for it anymore.
Incidentally, the second Mares v Agbeko fight is also on tonight and is another huge grudge match. Their first fight is most famous for one of the most crooked refereeing performances you will ever see in your life.
Five rounds in and Murray is starting to get a foothold against Rios. He had exchanged well from the start but was still getting outpunched. In the fifth, Rios’ workrate looks to be dropping off a lot. Might have been taking a rest as well of course.
Manc John Murray has been stopped in the 11th round by Brandon Rios. Showed great heart in what was a brutal slugfest but was outmatched by Rios. Had good rounds in the 4th and 5th but after Rios bounced back in the 6th he was in control right up to the stoppage. Murray never stopped punching but his face was in an awful mess by the end.