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TOP RANK Warriors, burn up the Boardwalk in
Atlantic City
By
Mike Cassell The Philadelphia Boxing
Report
(DEC 3) Atlantic
City NJ - In a boxing era where business sense is the only
thing on the minds of most promoters, Bob Arum has proven time and time
again, that great match ups will be the only true cure for professional
boxing. In what can only be described, as a scene out of Rocky, four
incredibly tough and talented fighters, really put everything out there,
to give boxing fans their money’s worth. WBO welter weight champion,
Antonio Margarito 33-4-1, with 24 KO’s, battled the rugged Ghanaian
fighter, Joshua Clottey 30-1-1, 20 KO’s. I thought this fight would be a
toe to toe slugfest, but I had no idea the amount of heart of these two
warriors.
Clottey came out early;
he was much faster than I thought. He landed devastating right hands,
and left uppercuts to the jaw of Margarito, in the early rounds. By
round four, it was dead even on our cards, but Clottey seemed to favor
his left hand, as he walked back to his corner. He was landing his left
hook at will on Margarito, and it seemed as if he was really hurt. From
that point on, Clottey tried to stay in the fight, as Margarito sensed
his weakness, and like any good fighter, attacked, then attacked some
more. To Clottey’s credit, he began to retreat, but his “tribal pride”
would not let him. He came to fight, and he came to win, and it became a
war of will and skill.
By the 12th
round, Margarito, although battered and tired, finished the fight, with
a true champion’s heart. The Philadelphia Boxing Report had the fight
116 – 112 Margarito. The three judges’ ringside
had it, 118 – 109, 116 – 112, 116 – 112, all for Margarito.
If they had an extra
score for heart and determination, both of these guys would have
received a 10.
Clottey had this to
say after the fight:
“Margarito can
take a big punch. I hit him very hard, but he never hurt me. I hurt my
hand badly in about the 4th round. I was not hurt at all; I
just couldn’t fight back, because of my hand. I did my best. I will
abide by the judges ruling, but I know I hit him good. I would love to
fight him again; I know I can beat him!
Margarito was not
immediately available after the fight.
In the main event,
arguably one of the pound for pound, best fighters in the world, Miguel
Cotto 27-0,22KO’s battled Carlos “El Indio” Quintana 23-0, 18 KO’s, in
what was named, “the battle for Puerto Rico”. Boardwalk hall was flowing
with Puerto Rican pride, as both fighters put everything out there, for
the WBA welterweight championship of the world. Cotto may be the most
exciting fighter since Floyd Mayweather. He is quick, rugged, tough and
smart.
He brought his Gatti
like mentality, back to Boardwalk Hall, against the very solid,
undefeated Carlos Qunitana. Cotto’s brute strength and power were the
real factors in his decisive victory over Quintana. Cotto came out
strong, winning the first two rounds, seemingly surprising the
undefeated southpaw, with his speed and ring portability. In round 3,
Quintana realized he would have to slug it out with Cotto, or lose this
championship shot. By round 5 it became painfully apparent to Quintana,
that Cotto’s strength was just too overpowering, as Cotto landed a
viscous liver punch, dropping Quintana to the floor. Quintana was
wincing in tremendous pain, reminiscent of De La Hoya/ Hopkins. The big
difference on this night was, Quintana, very seriously hurt, actually
made it to his feet to continue. He was knocked down a second time, and
still got up on the count of 9. By the end of the round, Quintana
staggered back to his corner, and collapsed into his stool. Referee
Steve Smoger, could see the pain flowing through Quintana’s body,
through the eyes and body language of the fighter. Quintana could not
come out for the 6th round. Although his record will not
reflect it, Quintana was a winner last night. He did everything he
could, to beat Cotto, but just did not have enough in his arsenal to do
it. Everybody has a plan, until they get hit, and his had to go out the
window, once he was faced, with the raw power and energy of the champion
Miguel Cotto. When asked if he thought he was now, the best pound for
pound fighter in the world, Cotto had this to say.
“It is not for me
to decide. It is up to the writers, and fans. I know what I can do, but
something like that is to be decided by the world, not me”
Spoken like a true
champion…… |
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