- Published:July 27th, 2008
- Comments:No Comment
- Category:Uncategorized, User`s Boxing Prediction/Talk
You could see the fear in their eyes on Friday before the big Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto fight. It wasn't the fighters who were freaked out but the folks around boxing. Between the casino officials, the promoters and the media, they're are all the folks who make a living off the sport to varying degrees. After just 8,362 fans showed for the Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz fight last month and an even more disappointing 250,000 pay-per-view buys, you could feel some tension in the media area at the MGM Grand before Cotto-Margarito. It was a terrible sign if the sport's new pound-for-pound best, Pacquiao was generating that little interest.
No one wanted to tell us if this fight would sellout or give PPV projections. Jim Lampley, the voice of HBO boxing, couldn't do an interview without making some snide remark about "the enemy" mixed martial arts.
In many ways, it's the fault of boxing that a guy like Antonio Margarito hadn't risen to the top in the past. The 'Tijuana Tornado' isn't pretty and he's not an English-speaking trash talker but sports fans don't give a damn about that stuff if you hand out beatings with a relentless will. That's exactly what he did to Cotto with an 11th round TKO.
Ed Graney from the Las Vegas Journal-Review indicates why Margarito was such a big hit with the crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena:
"He threw nearly 1,000 punches. He took 280. One scorecard had the fight even when Cotto's people called it off, and two more had Margarito ahead 6-4 in rounds. But no matter how many times sweat sprayed from his head as a Cotto uppercut or jab landed, Margarito plunged ahead. Nothing was going to deny him the win, the belt, the moment."
Coming from the rough streets of Tijuana, Mexico, Margarito's life story is pretty amazing:
Somewhere in Tijuana, Mexico, a father who has never seen his son fight live professionally smiled and probably shed tears of pride. Antonio Margarito Sr. doesn't have a passport, but he was watching. So, too, the son believes, was Manuel, the brother who was murdered in 1999 on the night before Antonio Jr. fought Buck Smith.
Hopefully HBO takes note of the passion in the stands and from the media. It's time to get into the Margarito business and begin to shy away from the De La Hoya, Mayweather and Klitschko businesses.
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