Cotto-Margarito: Will Antonio Give Up His IBF Belt?

By Nate Anderson: After waiting for eons for WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs) to show any interest in fighting Antonio Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs), it finally looks as if it’s about to come about after Antonio’s 6th round destruction of IBF welterweight champion Kermit Cintron. Both fighters are looking for the fight to occur on January 26th, at Madison Square Garden, in New York. However, before it can happen, Margarito, 30, may have to defend his newly won title against the #1 challenger in the IBF, Joshua Clottey. Margarito is no stranger to Clottey, having struggled to beat him by a 12-round unanimous decision in December 2006.

Obviously, this is a fight that Maragarito would prefer not to have to fight if at all possible. Clottey fought him very closely, especially in the first half of the fight where he was beating Margarito and making him look slow. According to the latest news, promoter Bob Arum is counting on Margarito giving up his IBF belt so that he could fight Cotto for his WBA welterweight belt. In doing so, Margarito could avoid what would likely be a very tough fight with Clottey, one in which there would be no guarantee of certainty that he would emerge the victor or uninjured, for that matter.

It was clear then that Margarito was going to have to go in another direction, do something spectacular to rebuild his name and erase the lasting impression of his defeat by Williams. After last Saturday’s impressive win over Cintron, a bout in which Margarito dominated from start to finish, Margarito had finally done enough to get his name back at the top and make himself an appealing opponent for Cotto.

Margarito was fortunate that Cintron gave him the opportunity, since the last fight between the two, in April 2005, had been just as much a one-sided bout as last Saturday’s fight, with Margarito destroying Cintron in five brutal rounds. Now in hindsight, it wasn’t the smartest move for Cintron to do by eagerly fighting Margarito once again. Indeed, Margarito’s volume punching style, combined with his excellent chin, was all wrong for Cintron who had no chance to win other than hoping to score a sudden knockout.

Though Margarito looked excellent in the fight, it’s clear the fighter with the most star appeal will be Cotto, who has quickly build up a large fan base in the boxing world in the past two years, especially in New York. Whatever it takes for Margarito, whether that means giving up his IBF welterweight crown, he needs to do it. He can’t risk a fight with Clottey because there’s no guarantee that Margarito can beat him.