Cotto's Redemption
Song...
by
Maria Conto
A lot of folks complained of the hypocrisy.
How could Cotto, (let alone Pacquiao), give another payday to a criminal
like Margarito? A man who disrespected the sport of boxing by loading his
gloves with a plaster-like substance -- later identified to be a
combination of calcium (a component of bone) and sulfur (a component
associated with, hmm - Satan?). If not for Nazim Richardson, Margarito
would have brought a weapon into the ring against Shane Mosley. The
intent? To win, of course, but to win at the cost of doing damage,
irrevocable damage, to one's opponent. That's not boxing. That's a street
fight.
Was there a weapon in the ring in Las Vegas
on July 26th, 2008? For Miguel Cotto, and for this fan, there is
little doubt. True, we will never know if Margarito did or didn't cheat in
their first battle. But think about it this way. How often do you speed?
How often do you get a speeding ticket? I don't know about you but I find
myself loathe to obey speed limits, especially when the tunes are cranked --
and I'm good for a ticket (or random taxation as I call it) once every three
to four years. So forgive me if I have dismissed my doubts that Margarito
didn't intend, much less didn't know, that his heavy hands were plaster
enhanced.
At the time, the initial bout was, as Max
Kellerman proclaimed, "modern boxing classic!" After getting over the
shock of the beat down Cotto had taken, I became even more interested in
Margarito. As a lover of heavy hands - Roberto Duran is my all time
favorite fighter - I wanted to know more about the Tijuana Tornado. I was
lucky enough to be in Mexico in August of 2008 and I recall talking to
anyone generous enough to give this gringa the time of day about what they
thought of Antonio Margarito and about how fiercely powerful his hands
were. Sadly time revealed the magnitude of his power to be a lie.
After Margarito, Cotto wasn't the same. He
appeared desperate in his loss to Pacquiao, off-balance and seemingly broken
in spirit. I don't think he truly had his head back in the game until his
fight against Yuri Forman at Yankee Stadium on June 5th, 2010. I
credit Emanuel Steward for helping Cotto find his center, his way back to
the ring. I spoke with Manny at the International Boxing Hall Of Fame in
2010 and I thanked him for helping Cotto get his fire back. He told me that
it was just about finding out what mattered most to Miguel and putting it in
perspective. He told Cotto to go out there and set a good example for his
family and for his son, and boy did he ever.
So I had to be at the Garden that night.
Although I completely understand, admire and respect those who could not
tune in to Cotto vs. Margarito II on principal, I simply couldn't stand with
them on this one. I couldn't take the moral high ground. On the other
hand, a lot of folks wanted to see Margarito get what was coming to him.
Not me. I wasn't there to see the bad guy get beat. I was there to see a
wronged man's deliverance.
I was emotionally involved. Miguel Cotto has
always been one of my favorite fighters. And not solely because of how
great he was inside the ring but moreover because of the kind of man he was
outside the ring. He always struck me as such a class act. This was
highlighted on HBO's 24/7. He speaks without guile or bravado of his
devotion and gratitude to the sport and all it has afforded him and his
family. How heartbreaking was it to see his kids' ringside when Margarito
bloodied and broke him back in 2008? Children should never see their father
like that. Witnessing his family witness that defeat I cried too. But how
uplifting was it to be there to see them watching their father glean light
from darkness in Madison Square Garden on December 3rd, 2011?
In his post fight interview with Max
Kellerman, when asked what he thought about Margarito, Miguel said "He means
nothing to me." It was the perfect answer. Evil can undercut your soul and
fill you with doubt. The truth about the hand wraps is lost to history.
But honor is not. By eradicating all doubt as to who is the better fighter
and the better man, Cotto won his redemption. Kellerman asked Miguel
about Margarito's power. "Look at my face," he said. Looks like victory to
me.
Editor's Note: You can write Ms. Conto at
maria.conto@hotmail.com
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12-3-2011