Cotto-Margarito bout to take place at 150 pound catchweight?

By Boxing News - 08/20/2011 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: It was thought that the December 3rd fight between WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (36-2, 29 KO’s) and Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KO’s) was going to be taking place at the full 154 pound limit for the junior middleweight division.

However, according to Steve Kim at maxboxing.com, Cotto is pushing hard for a catchweight of 150 lbs. for the fight. Why Cotto would want a catchweight handicap for this fight is unknown, as he’s already been fighting at 154 in his last two fights against Yuri Foreman and Ricardo Mayorga. Kim states that Cotto really wants the 150 pound catchweight, and if he doesn’t get there’s a chance that there won’t be a fight.

Margarito was under the impression that the fight would be at the full 154 pound limit, but it looks as if he was wrong. Top Rank, the promoter for both Margarito and Cotto, wants to meet halfway at 152 lbs. However, Cotto is said to still want the 150 catchweight. Hopefully this can be worked out so that there can be a fight between these two guys. But if Cotto wants the 150 pound number he’s in a good position to get his way on this.

Cotto’s the more popular fighter compared to Margarito, and he’s not in the position where a part of the public is unhappy with him because of the hand wrap scandal like they are with Margarito. It would be a pity if the fight does take place at this weight, because Margarito really struggles to make 147, and if he can only go three pounds above that instead of the full 154, he could end up being weakened. Maybe Cotto wants another advantage going for him. I don’t see why he would need one because Margarito is already coming off of eye surgery following his serious beating against Manny Pacquiao last year. That would seem like an advantage enough for Cotto in this fight.



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