Today's topic? The fantastic boxing match I was lucky enough to witness on HBO last night.
Thank goodness the cards fell in place for me this weekend, otherwise I wouldn't have seen a lick of the action that took place in Madison Square Garden late Saturday. First, I was able to switch work days by chance, giving me an entire weekend off. Being that I had a sister turning the big 1-6 Saturday too, I figured, let's take a trip home to KC for three days. Lastly, upon my arrival, my dad let me know that Time Warner Cable was giving customers free previews of HBO/Cinemax for the weekend! Awesome right?
Even better that this fight took place. I let my dad know to record the fight so we could watch it later and he easily agreed. However, he did need some background on the fighters as I'm sure some of you may, so here's the fight card.
Miguel Cotto is a fantastic boxer of Puerto Rican discent who currently resides in the NYC. The present WBO Welterweight champion, it took Cotto 32 fights before suffering a loss- a stretch that included wins over the likes of DeMarcus Corley, Ricardo Torres, Zab Judah, and Shane Mosely. But on July 26, 2008, Cotto nearly had his entire career dismantled with one ring appearance against Antonio Margarito. In a fight that was completely controlled by the bigger Margarito, Cotto didn't appear to be the man atop the Welterweight division many expected him to be. He was pummeled left and right and looked to be in shock at what was happening to him, with everything unraveling in the 11th round.
After the Margarito KO, many believed Cotto was done and that the Margarito ghost would forever hang over him and deny him any chance of regaining credibility.
Enter Joshua Clottey. An up and coming Welterweight who considers himself one of the "most overlooked and under-appreciated boxers in the sport", Clottey is as fast as a snake with his punching and has pin point accuracy that makes each punch he throws extremely sharp and calculated. Though he has only 20 KO's and isn't known for his power punching, he is known for being nearly impossible to put on the canvas. Clottey also had a record that was fairly impressive, including victories over Richard Gutierrez, Jose Luis Cruz, Zab Judah, and also a tough unanimous decision loss to Antonio Margarito that many boxing enthusiasts believe to be a much closer bout than the scorecards indicated.
Add to the fightcard that the Sunday following the fight would be NYC's annual Puerto Rican parade, and the drama reached a boiling point inside MSG.
The fight itself had nearly everything you could ask. Lots and lots of punching, including a first round knockdown of Clottey that proved big for Cotto. Let me just put it this way, if memory serves me correctly, these two didn't even tie up until the 4th or 5th round; it was a straight battle back and forth and the ring activity was more than active. Cotto would suffer a nasty cut over his left eye midway through the fight and it appeared things would be all but over for Miguel down the stretch. However, while he continuously got popped from Cottley right's he could not see coming, Cotto stood tall and withstood some flurries from his opponent. Clottey suffered an "injury" himself midway through after an interesting hook-up/throw-down near Cotto's corner. Clottey came up limping and was quoted in between rounds as being bothered by his leg. Still, both fighters continued through all 12 rounds, trading blows in epic fashion. In the final rounds though, Clottey appeared to go head hunting instead of working a tired Cotto body. In doing so, he began throwing fewer and fewer punches. Cotto used the room and extra wind to dish out a few nasty combinations of his own, at some points pinning Clottey in the corner and going to work for 10-12 punches at a time.
When the fight ended and HBO turned to the scorecards, my dad and I along with HBO's Larry Merchant believed we could have controversy. We were all correct.
When Bruce Buffer began reeling off the scores, it was obvious one of the fighters would go home disappointed. Clottey earned one of the judge's votes with a 114-113 card. But the other two judges scored in unanimous favor with the hometown boy, going 115-112 and 116-111 in favor of Cotto giving him the victory.
Now I completely agree with Teddy Atlas on the post-anlysis of this fight. To say Cotto won by the margins 2 of the judges scored is pretty ridiculous and just flat out not true. However, for Clottey to back off and feel that he had the fight won in the 10th is plain stupid on his part. In fact, it was probably the 12th and final round that netted Cotto the victory. But as we said, that was not the case according to the judges.
In all honesty, I can't say who I thought fought well enough to win. Without a doubt, this fight needs a rematch and quickly. Not just because the fans and fighters deserve it, but more so because I do not want to see a Cotto-Pacquiao fight. Cotto is my second favorite boxer in any division because he's tough as nails and has a no fear attitude. But he's not ready for the constant improvement and ever growing momentum Pacquiao has going. If Cotto-Clottey II happens sooner rather than later, pull out your wallets- this will be one PPV you won't want to miss.
Clottey wasted the last 2-3 rounds. Should have built on his momentum, scored some points with judges and worked on Cotto's eye. Definitely should be a rematch, but looks like Cotto wants no part and is going for the big $ with Pacquiao. Clottey is a good fighter and needs to keep plugging away; next time, keep away from "homer" in both venue and opponent.
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