Without the shadow of a Handwrap: Cotto vs Margarito 2 Aftermath

Cotto vs Margarito 2 (Dec. 3, 2011)

Miguel Angel Cotto exacted revenge on Antonio Margarito Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden scoring with a masterful 10th round stoppage to retain his WBA Super World light middleweight title. Referee Steve Moger, acting to the advice of the ring physician, waived the fight off 3 seconds into the 10th round as Margarito's right eye looks to be in bad shape. With or without the cut, however, it seems Cotto was just too fast and superbly conditioned for Margarito to hang around.

Cotto boxed beautifully in the first round, darting in and out, moving left and right, connecting with combos inside and stinging jabs outside while Margarito dogged him tirelessly timing his right cross. The third round saw Cotto's glancing blow opened a cut on the right eye of Margarito - same cut he suffered in the Pacquiao fight. It was ominous.

From hereon, its Cotto targetting the cut and ever so confident in each round while for Margarito, its evident that the cut was bothering him - that and being without a fight for more than a year, the ring rust showed with his decreased volume of punches. By the eight canto, the right eye of Margarito has swelled and was beginning to close so much so that the ringside physician checked it couple of times before ultimately deciding to discontinue the fight.

What was the black material on the handwrap?

Cotto was the emotional favorite after it was discovered that Margarito was loaded with illegal handwraps going into the Mosley fight. Cotto believed the same kind of handwrap was used in their initial meeting (see image above) although the Margarito camp vehemently denied such allegation.

It was a cross-over fight for both - for Margarito, the right eye raises a concern that if he continue fighting he might risk it being permanently injured. Not to mention the question about his broken orbital bone in the left eye, courtesy also of Pacquiao. This very well may be the Tijuana Tornado's last fight.

For Cotto, meanwhile, its a new lease of life in his boxing career. For one, he vindicated his loss, and two, he appears to be headed for a blockbuster showdown with unbeaten Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Pacquiao vs Mayweather - Why the Superfight Must Happen Now!

A disputed majority-decision victory for Manny Pacquiao and an infamous KO win for Floyd Mayweather Jr. – these are very un-superstar-like recent performances from the two best boxers in the planet today. Inspite of all this, the public clamor for them to fight each other never waned, giving them both the benefit of the doubt. With the superfight still projected to shatter existing records should they meet, there is a big reason why the fight must happen now and not later.

Topping my list of failed superfights happened on 2008, when Roy Jones Jr. finally faced Felix “Tito” Trinidad in the squared circle for a light heavyweight tussle. Talks about the match-up started as early as the late 1990’s when the two superstars were on top of the Pound-for-Pound ratings. When they finally inked the fight, Trinidad  had already lost to Bernard Hopkins, retired and un-retired twice while Jones had been brutally knocked out by Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson. And although the fight raked in a respectable 500k PPV buys, there was no question the luster had died out of the two superstars when they met.

Jones vs Trinidad (January 19, 2008)

Sergio Martinez, Juan Manuel Marquez, Amir Khan, Marcos Maidana, Andre Berto, Timothy Bradley, Robert Guerrero – these are the names being loosely thrown around as the next possible opponents for either Mayweather or Pacquiao. I say, forget about them and make the superfight... before one of these hopefuls show up two gears faster and stronger than they are supposed to be and spoil the fun for all of us.

Cinco de Mayo - A Matchmaker's Dream

Mayweather vs Dela Hoya (May 5, 2007)

Cinco de Mayo is a holiday observed annually in the United States and some parts of Mexico in celebration of a Mexican Army's victory over the French forces during the American Civil War. It is seen as a day to celebrate the culture, achievements and experiences of people with a Mexican background who live in the United States.

The last time Cinco de Mayo fell on a Saturday, the boxing world was treated with a spectacle of gigantic proportions when Floyd Mayweather Jr. taught Oscar dela Hoya a neat boxing lesson on May 5, 2007. The much-talked-about fight set the record of 2.15 million pay-per-view buys and $120 million in pay-per-view revenue breaking the previous record held by the fight between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis..

With May 5, 2012 occurring Saturday anew, boxing fans should expect nothing less than another mega-buck fight featuring a famous Mexican boxer. I'm tossing the matchups below as the most likely fights to happen:

• Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez 4

Team Pacman wants another crack at Marquez after the controversial win. No doubt, this would be another hit as the mexicans would support their top boxer. Another easy money fight for both.

• Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Antonio Margarito

People have been claiming Money May ducked Margarito with not much basis. Well, this fight should silence the critics.

• Saul Alvarez vs Julio Cesar Chavez Jr

At some point, both these budding superstars will have to face tough opposition and having them fight each other at this point is the first step to becoming an elite. Somebody's "0" has got to go.

• Sergio Martinez vs Antonio Margarito 2

Martinez got beaten by Margarito via TKO in 2000, and the former is ready for a rematch. Its payback time.

• Juan Manuel Marquez vs Erik Morales

This one is high up on everyone's list of fantasy fights for about a decade now. Its better late than never. I'm intrigued on how this tactical battle would go.

• Miguel Cotto vs Juan Manuel Marquez 

With Marquez weighing 150lbs on fight night against Pacquiao, a fight with Cotto at 147 or 150 is not far-fetched. From the fight fans point of view, a puerto rican vs a mexican surely would not disappoint.