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THE ROWE SHOW: IN DEFENSE OF MARGARITO

By Greg Rowe | December 10, 2011
THE ROWE SHOW: IN DEFENSE OF MARGARITO

Boxing scribe Greg Rowe takes his show on the road as fans from around the world ask questions about a number of topics. From Floyd Mayweather to Manny Pacquiao, check out his perspective on the biggest names and the hottest topics of the sport. This week, fans were still buzzing about Miguel Cotto's 10th round TKO win over Antonio Margarito and Rowe's recent article about whether or not the fight should have been stopped or if Margarito should have been given a chance to continue. Check it out!

A completely completely completely retarded article. I respectfully disagree with your assertion that the fight is a "setup." Margaritos right eye was swollen shut and let's not forget, he has an ARTIFICIAL LENSE. So what if Cotto only wanted to fight in New York, why does Mayweather only want to fight Pacquiao in Las Vegas and never in Cowboys Stadium? Exactly, now I am a HUGE Mayweather fan and after the Ortiz fight Pactards were clamoring that the fight was staged and I refuted that countless times especially amongst my friends who are all Wackman fans. So coming from an unbiased point of view, Cotto completely out classed and dominated Margarito, if the doctors had let the fight continue Matgarito would have went blind in his right eye. Also, you argue that the referee never reprimanded Cotto for pushing off with his forearm right? What about Mayweather's elbow? Does the Hatton fight ring a bell? Margarito doesn't deserve a 3rd bout with Cotto, he needs to retire. Like you wrote in your article, you were surprised at how quickly Margaritos right eye swelled up again and it looked drastically similar to when he fought Pacquiao, do you think it will magically not swell up in a 3rd bout with Cotto? Lastly, if you really think Margarito didn't use wraps against Cotto you are a fool, innocent until proven guilty? Are you kidding me? Did you not see the handwrap pictures of the broken gauze? And is it plausible that he randomly used plaster of paris in the Mosley bout? Come on man. If I was Money May I would tell you "Fight Hype need to fire you, you don't know shit about boxing." - Abner Sabido

GR: I know Margarito's right eye was swollen; it had to do with how Miguel Cotto was throwing his jab from the opening bell. Instead of throwing a traditional jab, Cotto was throwing it at Margarito's face and flicking it to the left so that he could scrape his eye and cause it to swell or cut. That's an old school trick. The first real hard jab in the second round is what messed Margarito's eye up. From the angle, it looked as though he could have caught a thumb in the eye, which can cause your eye to swell very quickly. Cotto wanted to fight in New York, not only because of the HUGE Puerto Rican population, but because he feels the Nevada Commission didn't do its job in the first fight because he felt he was cheated. NOT the same reason Floyd wants to fight Manny in Las Vagas. Floyd wants to fight Manny in Vegas because that's where the money is, not just with him, but with the casinos, hotels, etc. It's the fight capital of the world, man. I agree, Cotto had a great game plan and followed it to the T. As I stated in my article, that is not where I have a problem with this fight. Mayweather has gotten warned many times for using his forearm; Cotto was never warned. I love all the talk that Margarito needs to retire because he was forced to stop fighting because his eye was swollen. If we took that approach in this sport, we would lose 70% of the active fighters in the sport. Now according to an "expert" eye doctor, not a fan or a writer, Tony's eye with the new lens was better than before, so that argument holds little, if any, weight. Tony is 1-3 in his last 4 fights, but look whom they are against. 3 future Hall of Famers and a fight coming off a 16-month layoff. How does that point to him needing to retire? If you go back and watch 24/7, the first episode, and watch when they are showing Tony in the ring celebrating the win over Cotto, the black marking on the wrap appears to be fuzz. It doesn't look like a tear in real time. Did you know that Tony went before the Commission and had to testify about the hand wraps in the Mosley fight? Guess what they came up with? They found him innocent, and as I stated, Keith Kizer found nothing wrong with the wraps and no evidence that they had been tampered with. That's hard evidence, not speculation my man. And yeah, Cotto told Tony that it looks like the wrap had been repaired and that more gauze had been added. Now if you have ever been in a locker room before a fight, they wrap your hands, put the gloves on, and mark them with the state athletic commissions initials, therefore sealing the glove to know if it has been tampered with. To further prove this point, Cotto said that Naazim Richardson found something fishy with Margarito's wraps before the Mosley fight. Now we all know what was found; plaster-like ingredients. Richardson found the wrapping s before the glove had been put on, which means they either A) figured out a way to wrap his hands in it so that those watching couldn't tell, or B) put it on top of the old wrappings. Now how could they have done that if his glove was sealed and signed off on by the Commission in the first fight? Cotto's argument doesn't make sense. I guess I don't know shit about boxing. I'll wait nervously today for my pink slip.

I usually agree with you on a number of subjects. You're definitely one of my favorite writers. But I gotta disagree on the cotto-marg stoppage. One thing that was very important in the stoppage, was the history of marg's eye. I'm sure they would have let the fight go on if marg didn't have surgery and repaired eye. That was a huge concern. That's the main reason. Marg shoulda been smarter to protect it. Cotto won fair and square with a good stoppage. Safety first. - Jose Leyva

GR: As I previously stated, I'll take the word of an expert in eye repair over the "protective" ideas of those ringside. Margarito has never been a guy who is big on defense; that's not his style. Cotto did win, but fair and square? I'm not so sure. I look at this like I look at the OJ Simpson deal. He was found innocent of the killings of his wife and Ron Goldman, yet he goes to jail for threatening someone who stole some of his gear. You're trying to tell me he isn't in jail for his previous trial? That was payback or "redemption", if that's what you want to call it, and this had the same feeling. Kieren Mulvaney of HBO expressed his feelings that parts of this fight made him nervous as well. Just sayin'.

I love Fighthype because of its facts, that it brings in every story. But your column is nothing more than a conspiracy theory. Nobody except margarito wants a 3rd fight. The dude is washed up. Yeah he's got a helluva chin but he's not superman. Another fight with cotto and the poor guy won't be able to enjoy his money when he gets older. He's gonna end up a freakin vegetable! Enough of the conspiracy stories. Fighthype is better than that. - Ivan Pastran

GR: We do bring it. That's why we are the best in the biz. As far as my story being a conspiracy theory, look, I pointed out many things, from the selection of the state in which this fight was fought in to the gloves each fighter wore to the talk of the eye before the fight. These aren't "theories", they are facts, actual events and evidence that did happen. A conspiracy theory is when you make up something to try and prove a point that others think is absurd, like aliens. Everything I have said in my piece can be validated and did happen. Tons of fighters have taken more punishment than Margarito and are fine. It depends on the person and what you are made of.

Rene, this is a sorry ass article makes no sense, your obviously a Margarito fan and not a true fan of the sport, Cotto's face in the first fight tells the story of the plaster and the fact that Margarito haven't been able to hurt no one else the way he did the night of his first fight with Cotto this article seems bias to me with all your leaning on every one on favor of Margarito your a disgrace to other writers and the sport. - Rene Vazquez

GR: Rene, if you go back and do your research, in the many places I have written articles, in the vast amounts that I have written, you will find that I have never once written a piece on Margarito in which I have "praised" him. I just paid very close attention to every little detail since this fight had been announced all the way up until it was fought, and it stinks, man. Sorry if you don't see it that way, but I have given plenty of facts and reasons why I feel the way I do. I have my opinion and you have yours. If you don't think Cotto's face was jacked after this second fight, you might want to go look at pics of him in his dressing room and at the podium at the post-fight presser because it was marked up like hell. Tony had only hit him for 9 rounds and it wasn't in the same manner because Cotto was able to sustain his movement in this fight longer than he had in the first fight. Tony was starting to catch him in the 7th round and was continuing to do so up until the fight was stopped. Might want to re-watch the fight this Saturday. Thanks for reading.

Great article man.. Took the words right out of my mouth... I hate all this irresponsible, biased journalism going around... Guys with Cotto pom poms... I'm a fan of both fighters, but it was clear to me who the harder puncher was and also that Tony was closing the gap ( Cotto won 6 out of 9 rounds imo)... He came to the corner VERY confident after the 9th and then the Doc says, "No Mas" Yeah what a coincidence... Thanks again for writing a good, truthful article... We need more like them...  - AA from Philly

GR: I agree. I have no problem calling this fight "revenge" for Cotto, but "redemption"? Redemption for what? Because of speculation that Margarito cheated in the first fight? Seems beyond ridiculous. I agree Tony was closing the gap. Hard to tell what another 3 rounds would have brought. My problem is we didn't get to find out.

Bravo. I'm sure there will be plenty of retards sending you hate mail, but nice work! - B

GR: Nah man, it isn't that bad. Everything you do is going to be a 50-50 deal with who agrees with you and who doesn't. Appreciate it.

This fight was obviously cheaters proof!! 1-3 & down one eye since being caught cheating! And if you believe he wanted to use those illegal wraps against an aging fighter like Mosley and not use them against a rising superstar in his prime at the time, which Miguel cotto was at that time, than you sir are either a blind margarito fan or really ignorant, a 3rd fight for what? If margo wanted to keep fighting he should have defended himself better the first 9 rounds, he was obviously incapable of that! As far as holding, margocheato did plenty of that himself, to avoid being ko'd, smoger did a great job, he let them fight period, that's the refs job, I don't know what the hell you were watching, margarito is like sammy sosa without the cork/steroids, hes an exposed piece of crap who doesn't deserve another big payday off of miguel cottos name. - Carlos Cabrera

GR: First off, again, who were those 4 fights against? Has anyone with the exception of Floyd Mayweather fought a tougher stretch than that in his last 4 fights? Let's be real. Second off, Mosley is going to be a hard one for Margarito every time they fight because of his style, speed, and punching power. That's just knowing boxing. I'm blind because I'm not "assuming" or "accusing" someone of something with no evidence? Huh? As I stated, and you should know by watching Margarito, defense is not his game; being tough, stalking, wearing guys down, and pressuring them is his style. His defense is his chin. Margarito was laughing at Cotto when he was hitting him, yet he was holding on from being knocked out? Which fight did you watch? Which channel? Because I would love to see that fight. How is letting Cotto hold on the inside where Margarito wants to fight letting them fight? That's letting Cotto fight his fight, but that is far from letting Margarito fight his fight. Not sure I understand the point you are trying to make about Sammy Sosa because, again, you are talking about an issue that happened in the Mosley fight and trying to apply it to this fight. As I previously stated, you might want to tune into HBO this weekend and re-watch the fight. Sounds like one of us was watching the fight with biased eyes, and I know which of us it was. Margarito is Mexican. He has and will always have a big following. Difference is he can draw a crowd anywhere he fights and Cotto can really only do that in New York. I have not once said I'm looking for anyone to agree with me, but you can't argue facts and logic. Thanks for reading.


You can follow the Rowe Show on twitter @Growe_fighthype or email him at growe@fightype.com

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