Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto are widely considered the two best, and toughest, fighters the welterweight division has to offer. The two will clash in a probable thriller this July.
Cotto, the WBA champion, sports an unblemished record while Margarito suffered the pain of losing early in his career and, more recently, lost his WBO welterweight title to Paul Williams by decision in July 2007.
Margarito vs Cintron
Since Margarito's loss to Williams, he has rejuvenated his career with KO victories over Golden Johnson and Kermit Cintron. Johnson, once a lightweight contender was first round fodder for Margarito, while Cintron, the IBF titlist at the time, lasted most of six rounds before a Margarito left to the liver ended his night.
Blaming his loss to Williams on a slow start, Margarito has vowed never to repeat that mistake. The Johnson and Cintron fights show the veracity of his words.
Cotto vs Mosley
Cotto's grandest victory as a welterweight is his close, but unanimous decision over Shane Mosley last November. Faced with an opponent in Mosley who could match him punch for punch and never wobble, Cotto unveiled some of the skills earned during his decorated amateur days and boxed Mosley from the outside when he needed to. Both men where fine with "fighting in a phone booth," but it was Cotto who used more of his long distance minutes.
The recent blow-out by Cotto of an overwhelmed Alfonso Gomez sheds little light on his dealings with Margarito (the same can be said for Margarito's Johnson fight) other than Cotto should be well rested and ready when the bell rings.
As modern welterweights go, Cotto is a small one. At only 5' 7" he is towered over by the rest of the division,s elite who walk over or under two inches of six feet, the glaring exception being the 5'9" Floyd Mayweather. Thus Cotto is a stocky welterweight who can get inside and grind to good effect, yet, as stated earlier, is a surprisingly good boxer with good lateral movement and quick hands.
Margarito on the other hand is, at five feet-eleven inches, a big welterweight. But not simply by virtue of height. Standing next to Margarito in the gym, one is astounded by the amount of muscle mass he carries for a welterweight. His arms and shoulders are like that of a light heavyweight. That he seems so comfortable making the 147 pound limit is remarkable.
Cotto the Boxer
Anyone who watched Margarito walk through Cintron's bombs knows that Antonio has an anvil for a chin. Cotto noticed. No fool, Cotto will bring his boxing skills to the MGM Grand ring and try to frustrate Margarito with lateral movement, which won't be easy considering the height and reach advantage Antonio has. Height and reach are a fighter's most difficult obstacles, they are what gave a man of otherwise lesser talent in Williams a victory over Margarito.
Margarito will do what Margarito does and swarm the smaller man. But don't think that Margarito is a simple brawler, he does an excellent job pivoting on his front foot to create punching lanes, he picks off punches with his gloves, and he is adept at rolling with shots to take the sting off of them.
Cotto is, with his faithful Puerto Rican following, the star attraction in this fight, but it is Margarito who the writer sees as the favorite and the fighter most likely to bring a fight into the ring.
