I admit it, it’s a classic…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@Oklahoman.com
Has everyone caught their breath yet after that unreal fight between Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto? More on that in a minute. First, some more EliteXC thoughts.
Better paced show than in May. Of course, with all those knockouts, it sort of had to be doing better time-wise.
Enough introduction of the fighters without it being overkill. Gus Johnson and Frank Shamrock did an outstanding job of letting the action speak for itself.
There’s money to be made with Cyborg and Gina Carano. I can’t believe I’m actually saying that. It’ll be interesting to see how long they wait to make this.
Mauro Ranallo either needs to change up his style or leave. Here’s a taste of his goodies: “That fight was as long as Brett Favre’s retirement.” “Next to Batman and Joker, this is the showdown of the summer.” It just rings as petty to me. It’s obvious Ranallo loves the fight game. But when you say things like that, ugh, it just doesn’t sit well. I’m all about trying to make it entertaining, but that’s going overboard.
Like I said last night, a solid show to have on broadcast TV. All fights did what they set out to accomplish. Next EliteXC on CBS is Oct. 4.
Now onto boxing’s Fight of the Year. Yes, the Boneman believes this beats out the third installment of Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez from March.
Two things about Cotto that I’m still trying to figure out: 1) Why didn’t Cotto attack Margarito’s body? We all know Antonio has a granite chin, so why not try the body? Cotto has been known as one of the best body punchers in boxing. So why on the biggest night of his career did he abandon that plan?
2) This is me really assuming something here, so you may not agree. But why, in the latter stages of the fight, didn’t Cotto just say “screw it, I’m going to toe-to-toe with him. If I get KO’d, so be it. But I’m not just going to try to box and move to a decision.” I just felt by round eight or so that everyone knew Cotto wasn’t going to be able to last all 12 doing that style. Margarito was going to catch him.
I never felt Cotto sat down on any of his punches. Maybe he did, and that’s just how great of a chin Antonio has. But from what I saw, it was nothing but punches meant to get Margarito off of him instead of actually looking to press the action.
Am I wrong about this? Margarito’s pressure was nothing new. It’s what he always does. And I didn’t even mind that Cotto strategy was to just box circles around him and make Antonio chase him all night. Hey, it worked for six rounds.
Can’t wait for the HBO re-broadcast, so can dissect this just a tad more. Strictly going off memory here.
Brief look into my scorecard. Cotto dominated round one because, well, Margarito let him. Antonio came back in an electrifying round two. I gave Miguel the next three rounds as he earned a working margin.
But the fight changed in round six and even Margarito acknowledged it. And round seven, Cotto was holding on for dear life. I had it 4-4-1 through nine rounds. Cotto was on his way to winning the 10th when a huge late rally by Margarito gave him the round.
Round 11 – clock struck midnight for Cotto. He takes a knee. Gets up, tries to see if he can still fight. Once he realizes he can’t, starts to backpedal. Takes another knee (from no punch) and Evangelista Cotto (his uncle) throws in the towel.
You won’t see too many like this one, so I hope you found a way to see it. If not, I know it’ll be on HBO Saturday night before the Zab Judah-Joshua Clottey fight (got Clottey in that one). When I know the exact time, I’ll post it. Another outstanding weekend for the fight circuit and hey, I actually got a prediction right.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment