Fight of the Year

[Guest]

Cotto vs Margarito, Saturday the 26th
This is going to be a bloodbath
I have a feeling we will see some fireworks early and often.

This will be similar to:
Hearns vs Hagler
Gatti vs Ward
Corrales vs Castillo
Marquez vs Vasquez

I can't wait.

[swerb]

That's some pretty lofty expectations.

I'm excited for it as well. I see the fighters as pretty evenly matched and look for it to go all twelve with both fighters hitting the canvas at some point.

Cotto, what you see is what you get. Margarito is more of an enigma. He's been a slow starter in spots, and I still am not sure what the hell he was doing in the first six rounds of the Paul Williams fight, which was a huge fight for him at the time.

He won't be able to start slow against Cotto. Cotto's been more of a bleeder than Margarito though. Judah and a couple other guys have opened him up.

I'll pick Cotto in a tight split decision that sets up a rematch around the holidays.

[Guest]

I see no reason not to think it won't be phenominal
2 guys that throw a ton of punches and inflict a lot damage.
Both guys are very agrresive (if you subract the first half of the Williams fight) and have great chins.
I am pumped for this battle.

[Guest]

Tomorrow night
Pumped.

[peeker643]

Anyone watching this one out and about or in a group or is everyone shelling out the cake for the individual PPV?

[Guest]

Hanging at home
HD PPV

[swerb]

Just got back from dinner.

This is the best they can offer up for the top undercard match for a fight of this magnitude?

Never understood that. These huge PPV fights. Undercard fights are always lesser names. You'd think they'd be able to out together a better top undercard fight than a 108 lb beef that features one guy not even in the Ring top 10 at that weight.

Equally as puzzling, why does CBS continue to put this Elite XC crap in prime time, yet wouldn't put any of the Marquez/Vasquez fights there? Argument for another thread.

Can't wait for this beef tonight.

[Guest]

The EliteXC card was actually pretty entertaining.
Have I ever mentioned that I am in love with Gina Carano?

[swerb]

The EliteXC card was actually pretty entertaining.
Have I ever mentioned that I am in love with Gina Carano?

Thing that kills me is how they hand pick these stiffs like the dude with the pink shorts. Dudes they know will lose and take a beating doing so. All to prop up shitty fighters like Nick Diaz.

Same thing with Kimbo and James "The Colossus" Thompson.

Robbie Lawler can fight. Him, Shamrock, the only two fighters in Elite that wouldn't be also ran stiffs in the UFC. And neither could even come close to being champions in the UFC.

[swerb]

Three national anthems?

That's a first.

[swerb]

Love watching two fighters so skilled, both at the top of their games, going toe to toe. Great opening round.

10-9 Cotto

[swerb]

What a round! Crisp, violent, blood drawn. As good a round as I've seen in a while. Tough round to score.

10-9 Margarito

19-19

[swerb]

Margarito stalking and dictating, Cotto with some great counter punches there in round three.

10-9 Cotto

29-28 Cotto through three

[swerb]

Cotto steals a close 4th round in the last 40 seconds.

10-9 Cotto

39-37 Cotto through 4

[swerb]

Very, very impressed with the gameplan and the execution of Cotto.

Margarito has been sharp, and is a great fighter. Testament to how good Cotto is that he has won 4 of the 5 rounds of this one.

10-9 Cotto

49-46 Cotto through 5

[swerb]

Interesting round, a lot of pressure from Margarito, who looked like the ferentic Margarito we've seen dominate past fights by throwing hundreds of punches per rounds.

10-9 Margarito

58-56 Cotto through 6

[swerb]

What a round. Rds 2 and 7 have been legendary.

What a gutty effort from Cotto, not only surviving the assault from Margarito, but going on to tag him hard several times in the last 1:30 of that round.

10-9 Margarito

67-66 Cotto through 7

What a fight.

[swerb]

Mindboggling the spring Maragrito still has in his step as he continies to stalk Cotto. Both guys are in super shape, but Margarito, my god. Hes taken some shots. Looks fresh. Super conditioning.

He has seized the momentum of this fight and is dictating the tempo.

10-9 Margarito

76-76 through 8

[swerb]

Very tough round to score. And one that could determine who wins this one.

Me? Gotta give it to Margairto. Punches hes landing aren;t as clean, but he just keeps coming. Dictating the pace. Borderline bullying Cotto around. Tough, tough round to score.

10-9 Margarito

86-85 Margarito through 9

[swerb]

Margarito keeps throwing but his punches are losing their effectiveness. Cotto landed some great counters. ANother real tough one to score.

10-9 Cotto, despite the rally at the end by Margarito

Two rounds left. I got it tied. 95-95.

[swerb]

WOW!

What a fight!!!!!

A classic.

Big, big ups to Margarito. What an effort. Lost 4 of the first 5 rounds, then in classic Margarito fashion, just got better as the fight went on. Kept stalking, pressuring ... and his conditioning, as always, was amazing.

He's a special boxer. As is Cotto. Margarito was more special tonight.

Who woulda thunk that he would be in this spot after the loss to Paul Williams a couple years back.

[Guest]

Wow...........simply amazing.
Cotto hit Margarito with everything and he just walked right thru it.
What a great performance by both guys.
I have to say it lived up to the billing.
Best fight I have seen in awhile.

[jfiling]

I wish I could have seen this fight. I've been a fan of both boxers for a long time, and this is a dream card. I'm not surprised that Margarito got the TKO, because he is damn scary.

I wonder if Floyd will come out of retirement to take a shot at Antonio? Check that: he won't.

[Guest]

After watching Margarito last night, who the hell would want to fight him???
Williams rematch? Cotto rematch?
De La Hoya wants to wins his finale so he'll pass.

[swerb]

Williams will clearly feel he is first in line to fight Margarito, having beaten him just a couple years ago, and especially after his one round beating of Quintana in their rematch.

Cotto also will feel he deserves the first shot, giving Margarito this opportunity when he didn't have to. The smarter move for Cotto may be to take a step back and pick a fight with next weeks Judah/Clottey winner. Even if it is Judah, a rematch will be marketable given how entertaining the first one was. Rushing into another fight with Margarito may not be the best thing for Cotto, as losing again could set him back the same way B2B losses to the same fighter derailed the careers (temporarily in Mosely's case) of Jermain Taylor, Shane Mosely, and Vernon Forrest. The rub with Cotto is that he's already fought most of the top contenders at welterweight. Margarito, Judah, Mosely, and Quintana.

You put a gun to my head though, my guess would be that Margarito's next fight will be a mega-scrap with DeLaHoya in the fall. You could clearly see in the post fight interview last night that it was what Margarito wanted. A battle between two of Mexico's greatest fighters of this era. Would generate ass-loads of cash and PPV buys. DeLaHoya wanted to finish his career with another Mayweather fight, so I don't buy that he wants to go out with a win over a nobody. As a matter of fact, everything I've read is that Oscar wants to go out with a mega-fight.

It's the perfect final fight for Oscar. Long criticized by "true" Mexicanos for being too Americanized, DeLaHoya could end his career against the new face of Mexican boxing. And it would be an honorable loss for Oscar, especially after what Margarito did to Cotto last night.

Margarito - DelaHoya around the holidays. That's my call.

[Guest]

If Oscar fights Margarito, he's going to get hurt.
A fight with Floyd wouldn't have been as rough.
There are talks of Manny vs Oscar, De La Hoya would have a HUGE size advantage and a much bigger payday with Pacquiao.

Williams vs Margarito or the rematch from last night is my call.

[BernieBrown]

Great fight, I think Oscar will be the next guy Margarito fights. I could see Cotto fighting Juda or Williams though I think he would be a fool to fight Williams next.