| Cotto The Man At 147? by Greg M. 12-3-06 Saturday night found me in front of the boob tube once again, pizza in hand and the phone off the hook. While HBO put on an interesting card featuring two long time friends engaging in a little gentlemen’s scrap, Showtime really had the goods with two of the best fights on paper paired together in a broadcast in recent memory. Antonio Margarito survived some sloppy, anxious early moments as the rugged and well prepared Joshua Clottey repeatedly beat the longtime WBO title holder to the punch through the first four rounds and even staggered Margarito with a punch the Mexican didn’t see coming and yet walked right into. Margarito’s class and championship fight experience saved the day (and his reputation) as he dominated Clottey over the second half of the fight with relentless combinations and Clottey seemed to wither under the pressure. Margarito, who was looking to cement his place as the top 147 pound fighter in the world, may have lost a little bit of luster with this performance. He survived with the win, the onus is now on him to look good next time as fight fans can be a fickle bunch. Miguel Cotto stole the show though, with a welterweight coming out party that is the stuff of legends. In his first fight at 147, Cotto, who has been a belt holder at 140, chose to fight undefeated fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana. No easy task. Quintana, himself a very accomplished fighter, was picked by many experts to defeat Cotto and ruin his welterweight debut. Cotto had other ideas. Through the first four rounds Quintana and Cotto would engage in a brisk, hotly contested fight. The fifth round turned out to be the last as Cotto, who had been a deadly puncher at 140, punished Quintana with shots to the head and body that knocked him down twice. The ringside physician decided Quintana had taken enough punishment and called a halt to the assault prior to round six. With the win, Cotto showed that the power he had at 140 is still very much present at 147. But he also showed a little bit more. Where Cotto would look sluggish at times at 140, no doubt a result of having to cut his weight down a little too much, he looked like a new fighter with the added seven pounds. He didn’t plod forward, and wasn’t trying to conserve his energy as he did in his last few fights at 140. Cotto looks rejuvenated, to the regret of the other top 147 pound fighters. Where does each man go from here? Margarito has a mandatory defense against up and coming southpaw Paul Williams to take care of. He better be a little more prepared for that one as Williams is a tall southpaw who appears to have all the ability (and the punch output) to give Saturday night’s version of The Tijuana Tornado a hard time. Cotto stated he will be fighting in March, although no opponent was named. Whoever the unlikely guy happens to be, he better bring a helmet in there with him, as Cotto looks like a 1994 version of Felix Trinidad in the ring. The welterweights are heating up again, and nothing Floyd Mayweather can do will ruin the fun. |
