By Dan Ambrose: WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto is still under the impression that Antonio Margarito beat him with the aid of plaster in his hand wraps in their first fight in 2008 despite their being no proof whatsoever that Margarito did that.

As if to give weight to his argument, Cotto was comparing how his faced looked last night after his 10th round TKO victory to the way he looked after Margarito tore Cotto’s face apart in 2008 to show that Margarito likely used something in the first fight.

Here’s the problem with Cotto’s argument: First of all, Cotto wasn’t bleeding after the 9th round last time they fought in 2008. This was also the case last night. Cotto didn’t really get cut up until the last minute of the 10th round when he stood against the ropes and got hit with an uppercut that tore up his face.

In the 11th, Cotto got cut up worse when he stood and traded. The difference here is that Cotto didn’t have to fight as long last night as he did in 2008, and he elected to run and hold much more than he did in 2008. Cotto did very little clinching in their first fight, but last night he clinched constantly and did a lot of shoving of Margarito, for which he wasn’t warned or penalized.

Margarito, seeing that the referee was letting Cotto get away with shoving and nonstop clinching, he should have started with some extracurricular activity as well to make the fight even in that regard. But Cotto’s argument about the condition of his face this time around is ridiculous and isn’t relevant. It was a shorter fight this time and Cotto was able to get away with a lot of clinching. Like I said, Margarito should have done his own rough stuff to make things on and even playing field.