Maybe it was his voice, his attitude, or the outspoken tendencies of the late sportscaster Howard Cosell, but there always was energy in the fights he announced. He announced many historic matches and today’s generation deserves that same energy. History was made in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, not only for Philadelphia, but for the sport of boxing. Cosell would have enjoyed it.
Philadelphia welterweight Mike Jones was put in a fight that was supposed to push him to his limits–and he made it look easy. Jones fought Sebastian Lujan, of Santa Fe, Argentina, in a 12-round IBF elimination bout on the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito undercard. Should Jones have stopped Lujan? Some say yes, but there’s no need to complain because Jones did a great job under the lights.
Had that fight taken place in Philadelphia or Atlantic City, where Jones’ fan base resides, the crowd would have been buzzing and the fight would have been considered exciting. Any fan can look back on a performance and criticize, but why not accentuate the positive.
Jones controlled every aspect of the fight from the moment he stepped into the ring until the moment he left, and he did it with ease. Lujan consistently came forward and, by using lateral movement and leading with the jab, Jones won nearly every round of the fight.
clip_image006 Jones’ laid-back personality comes out in the ring. He fights a very relaxed and well-composed fight from beginning to end. When it was over, Jones looked as though he could have gone 15 rounds.
Headlining Saturday night’s Top Rank Promotion was the Cotto-Margarito rematch. Cotto gave Margarito some boxing lessons that started just after midnight. He reminded me of a mix of Wilfred Benitez and Sugar Ray Leonard.
This fight was better than other historic fights such as Leonard-Roberto Duran II where Duran quit in the middle of the eighth round. Cotto mirrored the image of a pure boxer that night, a side his fans have not seen much of lately. The typical brawler showed us that he is more than one-dimensional.
By using every weapon in his arsenal–short of the knockout punch–Cotto was nearly flawless. Margarito was swinging at air all night, though he did force the action and made every round a quality round.
Cotto won due to a stoppage before the 10th round. Margarito’s right eye was swollen shut and the ringside physicians called for a halt. Perhaps the fight could have gone on, but for what purpose and at what cost to Margarito’s already surgically repaired eye.
Being in the range of Margarito’s reach and slipping punches and landing crisp clean shots made Cotto look outstanding. Cotto listened to his team between rounds and he executed when the bell sounded. Margarito played right into his game plan and followed Cotto around the ring all night long. Margarito’s eye paid the price!
Going from being a fighter who people thought had lost it all after his knockout loss to Margarito in their first fight, to showcasing his talents last Saturday, Cotto truly impressed me and fought like a champion.
The author is a senior at Temple University who is now a part of Peltz Boxing. Follow us on twitter @Peltzboxing and our intern @bamonboxing.
HBO SPORTS® PRESENTS THE EXCLUSIVE REPLAY MIGUEL COTTO VS. ANTONIO MARGARITO II SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10
It’s a special edition of HBO WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® when HBO Sports presents MIGUEL COTTO VS. ANTONIO MARGARITO II, the exclusive replay of their super welterweight title showdown, this SATURDAY, DEC. 10 at 9:45 p.m. ET/ 6:45 p.m. PT on HBO. The HBO Sports team, which was ringside for the live event, calls all the action. The replay will be available in HDTV.
The second chapter of the heated Cotto-Margarito rivalry took place on Dec. 3 at New York’s Madison Square Garden and was carried live on HBO Pay-Per-View®. Cotto scored a resounding 10th round TKO victory.
In addition to the exclusive replay, HBO will have its cameras ringside Saturday night for the live doubleheader telecast from Washington, D.C., featuring Amir Khan vs. Lamont Peterson in a 12-round title matchup.
Other HBO playdates for all three bouts: Dec. 11 (8:45 a.m.) and 12 (11:45 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates for all three bouts: Dec. 11 (5:30 p.m.) and 13 (11:30 p.m.)
® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING is a registered service mark of Home Box Office, Inc.
Mexico City’s Ramon “Golden Boy” Ayala Fights This Saturday
Hard battling Mexico City native Ramon “Golden Boy” Ayala (21-2-1, 10KOs) will be part of the Saturday, December 10th “Noche de Luces en Calafia” fight card presented by Erik “Terrible” Morales’ Box Latino in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico. The twenty-two year old Ayala will face hardened veteran Victor “Firu” Corvala (7-17-5, 2KOs) of Santa Fe, Argentina, in an eight round lightweight contest. A firework filled battle is expected between the busy boxer Ayala and the come forward Corvala.
Despite the majority of his bouts have been in Mexico City and its surrounding areas since becoming a professional fighter in mid ’06, Ayala is no stranger to fighting out of his hometown. Ayala has traveled to Las Vegas, Nevada, Cabazon, California and the tiny Caribbean island of Haiti to earn a living. Saturday will mark the first time that Ayala performs in the northern edge of Mexico, a fact that doesn’t escape him, “I am very happy to fight in Mexicali, somewhere new for me. I want to win over the boxing fans and that is why I am working very hard in the gym so I can give a great fight.”
For the last two weeks, Ayala has been getting ready at Jose “Olivaritos” Morales’ gym located in the tough neighborhood of the North Zone or Zona Norte of Tijuana, Mexico.
“We know that Corvala is a tough fighter who throws a lot of punches like his majority of the fighters from his country,” Ayala stated regarding his next opponent. “We are expecting a tough fight but we are sure that at the end, our hand will be the one raised.”
In the main event of Box Latino’s “Noches de Luces en Calafia”, undefeated Pedro “Pedrin” Guevara (15-0-1, 11KOs) of Sinaloa will defend his NABF light flyweight title versus local favorite Manuel “Menny” Jimenez (11-1-1, 5KOs) in a scheduled twelve round bout. The championship bout will be televised live in Mexico by Televisa. The event will be part of the re-inauguration of the world famous Calafia bull ring which was recently renovated. Tickets are still available at the bullring’s box office.