From: Ralph Rimpell, Boxing Correspondent — Dear Readers: This letter is to clear any misunderstanding there apparently is in regards to the latest article I had posted on ESB. According to a comment (in comments link) that was posted in response to the article by, “Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear To Tread”, the reader says, “Not one of you chumps read this article from start to finish, you are reading the title and taking the rest out of context, Did any of you clowns go to school?”. Thank you dear reader, but I don’t agree with you 100%. I do agree 99%. I agree with everything from that comment accept for calling other readers “chump” and “clowns”.. I suppose now I am calling all ESB readers chumps and clowns? Give me a break! I have never, ever, said Miguel Cotto is a chump! What I did was paraphrase/quote that I agreed with the comment of a reader named “Da y Ma” from one of my previous articles on the same subject. The reader was very rude with his comments like many are in response to this article. I wanted readers like that one to realize they had previously overrated Cotto and now give Margarito his due credit. People have to concede that Margarito is “The Man” to beat in the welterweight division. No one has done that since his spectacular victory over Cotto! It’s only fair because many said Cotto was the number one fighter at welterweight after Mayweather supposedly retired. While my article is an opinion article, I do cite facts. For the record, is Miguel Cotto a chump? Absolutely Not! Before one goes and says that I am calling people names, please read the article in its entirety. If one does not understand what quotation marks are, please consult with an English grammar teacher or someone else who does. No disrespect meant.
Has Cotto’s career been well guided? It has been brilliantly guided! If I ever have the opportunity to manage a fighter I will have him sign with Top Rank. They do a great job. Did Cotto compete in the amateurs? Yes he did. Did Margarito? No he did not. He was fighting grown men at the age of 15 professionally. That’s one tough kid! Did Margarito win three world championships in spite of not competing in the amateurs? Yes, he did. Did Cotto have an easier road to stardom and the championships as compared to Margarito and Trinidad? Look at Boxrec.com. Did Cotto face adversity on his way to the title? Yes he did. If you remember, before he became champ he suffered a broken arm and overcame that. I am sure he had to overcome more than that. God Bless him, Margarito, and all others who face and overcome adversity. My contention from the first article was simply: Margarito is a better fighter and he would beat Cotto! Many dismissed me disrespectfully in the reader comments, especially “Da y Ma”. Miguel Cotto is a better fighter (not better than Trinidad) than I previously thought after seeing the performance he put on against Margarito, even in defeat. I can concede that. What can you dear readers concede about Margarito after he thrashed Cotto?
Finally he is fighting someone by the name of Michael Jennings (for Paul Williams vacated WBO belt). Why didn’t he challenge Williams before he vacated the belt? The Williams camp has said they will fight anyone at 147lbs, 160lbs, or 154lbs? Hmmmm, so after Williams vacates the WBO belt Cotto is coincidentally fighting Jennings for the WBO belt? Ok, no problem. I don’t want to hear anything about size difference because according to my sources Cotto walks around between fights as high as 170lbs. That’s why on boxing 24/7 we saw him working with a nutritionist before the Margarito fight. Forgive me, but I hope most of you know what a nutritionist is. I’m sure the Jennings fight will prepare him for the rematch with Margarito and future mega fights. Fight like this upcoming one with Jennings is what motivated me to write my last article. However, the article was not to offend Miguel Cotto or any of his fans. If I did that, I apologize, but the facts speak for them themselves.
Sincerely Yours,
Ralph Rimpell
Boxing Correspondent
Contact Ralph Rimpell: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
Margarito, ‘The Biggest Thing’, Cotto, ‘A Well Guided Chump’
By Ralph Rimpell – On June 2, 2008 I submitted an article to Eastsideboxing.com entitled “Cotto vs. Margarito: As of July 26, 2008, Boxing Is Here To Stay”. In that article I contrasted the careers of Cotto and Margarito in the sport of Boxing. I pointed out how Antonio “Tony” Margarito’s (37-5, 27 KOs) rise to the top was through much more adversity than Miguel Cotto’s (32-1, 26 KOs). I also pointed out how Cotto was spoon fed a bunch of “tomatoe cans” and really was not as good a fighter as many thought he was. In the readers comments, someone with the email “Da y Ma” disagreed with the points I made regarding these two fighters.
The comment was made that my view of Miguel Cotto was nothing more then a “Well Guided Chump” and that I was pro-Margarito. He characterized my view of Margarito as ‘The biggest thing’ (in the sport boxing). It’s been six months since the prediction and points I made about Cotto vs. Margarito were proven true. Let’s revisit those points again briefly with this essay. Shall we begin?
Margarito began his professional career at the age of fifteen fighting grown men. He unlike “Fraud” Mayweather, Cotto, Mosley, Judah, and Williams did not have the benefit of an amateur career. While these fighters were fighting boys their own age group, Margarito was fighting grown men and learning on the job. In the process he ended up losing a couple of fights early in his career. He eventually reeled off 16 win after his first loss to win the WBO welterweight crown. He lost the WBO title in a very close fight to current interim WBO 154lb champ Paul Williams (36-1, 27 KOs). This writer had Margarito beating Williams via split decision victory. The official judges of the fight didn’t view it that way. In any event, Tony rebounded by winning his second world title when he defeated IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron in a rematch and then his third when he defeat Cotto to win the WBA welterweight championship. Tony has won three world championships without any amateur experience! Imagine if Margarito had the amateur experience before he fought professionally. Who of Margarito’s welterweight peers could have accomplished the same feat? None of the aforementioned fighters, in this writer’s opinion, could accomplish that. What about Cotto?
After an unsuccessful bid in the Olympics, Miguel Cotto was signed to boxing promotional company, Top Rank. Cotto was guided very carefully and given the usual “tomatoe cans” to fight which most up and coming fighters are given. He was brought along slowly and matched against the right fighters according to his development. Former world champion, DeMarcus Corley was close to knocking out Cotto when they fought in Puerto Rico. He had Cotto out on his feet! Cotto threw some punch combinations, Corley took a knee and the fight was stopped controversially. Boxing fans again almost saw him knocked out by another former world champion, Ricardo Torres in an exciting fight. Torres knock him down twice and had him hurt badly before Cotto showed a lot of heart and came back to stop Torres. He impressively broke down a faded Zab Judah before he went the distance with an old Shane Mosley. After these two wins, most boxing writers believed Cotto was capable of defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather turned down fight offers from the Cotto camp in hopes of a more lucrative rematch against De La Hoya. Many boxing writers wrote that Mayweather was ducking Cotto the same way he ducked Margarito. Many boxing writers picked Cotto to have an easy time with Margarito if they fought. During their match, Cotto did what many believed he would do. He used good boxing skills, good footwork, and speed against Margarito. He scored well against Tony in the first half of the fight, but his power punches did little to slow down Margarito granite chin.
Margarito systematically was able to slow down his elusive prey, Cotto, and eventually stopped him in the eleventh round. I give Cotto credit because I thought Tony would have stopped him sooner. Margarito-Cotto II is tentatively scheduled for June 2009. Look for Margarito to repeat the same feat in the rematch with the exception of stopping Cotto earlier. Why did Cotto lose to Margarito?
The speculation ranged from Cotto not training properly, partying the night before the match, feuding with his trainer, all the way to Margarito using steroids (not true), etc. Cotto lost the fight because Margarito was tougher due to having faced a lot more adversity then Cotto. He is also a better fighter and Cotto’s level of competition didn’t prepare him for a fighter like Margarito. Compare another Puerto Rican fighter named Felix Trinidad. By the time Trinidad was 20-0 he had fought the better opposition as compared to Cotto and was the IBF welterweight champion. Trinidad defeated the capable Maurice Blocker who almost stopped Trinidad in the first round.
Trinidad turned the tide and stopped Blocker in the second round. When Trinidad fought fighters like Hector Camacho, Yory Boy Campos, Obba Carr, Freddie Pendleton, and Pernell Whitaker it improved him as a fighter. Each fighter brought something to the table by way of experience for Trinidad’s development. Cotto beat the unknown lightly regarded Kelson Pinto for the WBO jr. Welterweight title with a six round knockout. Fighters like Kelson Pinto, Mohamad Abdulaev, Gianluca Branco, and Alphonso Gomez all hurt Cotto’s development as a fighter. He will next fight Michael Jennings (34-1, 16 KOs) for the vacant WBO welterweight title. With all due respect to Mr. Jennings, Who is he and who has he fought? Someone please email me the answer. This writer would be surprised if Cotto loses his next fight. Look for Cotto to win against Jennings in spectacular fashion and fight Margarito in a rematch or fight Mayweather Jr. in blockbuster fight before he retires. Margarito will retire Mosley and then go on to unify the welterweight division by 2010.
He will rule the welterweights as long as he remains in that division. So when the reader said my view of Cotto was that of a ‘Well Guided Chump’ and Margarito as ‘The Biggest Thing’, he or she summed up my thoughts very nicely on the matter. Thank you “Da y Ma”
Contact Ralph Rimpell: RLuvsboxing@aol.com