Cotto Gets Revenge Against Antonio Margarito
A grudge match for the ages. In a rematch, Cotto faced Antonio Margarito on December 3, 2011, once again at the mecca of boxing – Madison Square Garden. Margarito defeated Cotto in the initial bout. Yet it wasn’t just any loss, Margarito administered a beating that some fighters never recover from. Many felt Cotto was never the same, that the fight fractured his spirit. Subsequent to the bout it was discovered that Margarito had attempted to use loaded gloves. Raising the possibility that it had also occurred when Margarito faced Cotto.
To add to the drama, the New York State Athletic Commission initially denied Margarito a boxing license for the fight. The reason for the denial was not due the cheating allegations, but instead the damage to Margarito’s eye sustained in his prior fight with Manny Pacquiao. Upon appeal Margarito was permitted to fight, yet, Cotto told media he would indeed target the eye in the bout.
In front of of 21,239 he avenged the defeat stopping Margarito in the 10th round. Attributable tothe condition of the same eye that almost kept the fight from taking place. At the time of stoppage, Cotto was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards. However, the this was more than a victory, many viewed it as the correction of an injustice. The win would prove cathartic for Cotto and would help him exercise revenge and some demons that haunted him as Cotto himself recently told HBO’s Jim Lampley it was the most satisfying moment of his career.