By Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, there are discussion of Miguel Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) facing WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs) in a possible rematch in 2009 if both of them win their next bouts. If this turns out to be the case, it will no doubt be a huge mega-fight for both of them with each likely making by far the biggest payday of their careers. Last time out, Cotto, 27, took a ferocious beating ending with him, his face a bloody mess, taking a knee twice in the 11th round causing the fight to be stopped. It was the type of beating that often stays with a fighter for the remainder of their career and one that few ever recover from.
You got to like Cotto – if he does choose to take the fight – for showing the courage to get back in the ring with Margarito after experiencing such a horrendous beating last time out. It will be interesting to observe how Cotto fights, in particular after being so badly broken by Margarito. I don’t really know how things can be any different for Cotto next time out, other than Margarito fighting with even more confidence knowing that he can eventually pressure him enough to break him a second time. Like in his rematch with Kermit Cintron, Margarito made it look even easier by stopping Cintron in the 6th round without getting so much as a scratch in the process.
By Scott Gilfoid: Former World Boxing Council welterweight champion Carlos Baldomir (44-11-6, 13 KOs) reportedly wants a fight with top fighters Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey or Miguel Cotto according to Sycuan Ringside Promotions. The 37 year-old Baldomir hasn’t seen action since his 10-round majority decision win over light middleweight Luciano Perez in November 2007. Though Baldomir states that he’s interested in fighting one of the top welterweights in the division, it’s very questionable whether he can make the 147 pound weight limit at this stage in his career. 
By Manuel Perez: In what turned out to be a bitter pill for Golden Boy Promotions today, lightweight Manny Pacquiao walked away from an offer of 70-30 purse split with the “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya, turning him down when he refused to budge in any way and come in at the 60-40 purse split that Pacquiao was seeking. Rather than take an offer that was less than what he found personally acceptable, Pacquiao, 29, decided to turn the fight down and look in another direction, possibly against Humberto Soto, a top super featherweight. De La Hoya, however, now has the perfect opportunity to show his fans how courageous he is and choose to fight Antonio Margarito, the World Boxing Association welterweight champion, who has been very interested in fighting De La Hoya as of late. 
By Manuel Perez: Felix Trinidad (42-3, 35 KOs) has always been one of my favorite fighters, a warrior that never gave an inch, even in losses to Winky Wright, Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins. After seeing Miguel Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) twice take a knee against Antonio Margarito in their recent fight on July 26th, I could only imagine would Trinidad must have been thinking when he saw it. Believe me, Trinidad would have never taken a knee. He might have lost to a fighter as fierce and determined as Margarito, although I’m not so certain that would happen, but I can’t see him ever taking a knee once, let alone twice like Cotto did. 
By Tim Neilson: In a stay busy fight, former lightweight, welterweight and light middleweight champion Shane Mosley (44-5, 37 KOs) will be taking on former welterweight and light middleweight champion Ricardo Mayorga (29-6, 23 KOs) in a scheduled 12-round bout on September 27th, at the Staples Center, in Los Angeles, California. Mosley, 36, is hoping to use a victory over the 34 year-old Mayorga as ammunition to get a fight with WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito after that. That seems more wishful thinking at this point for Mosley, who has done little is the past six years, losing six out of his last twelve fights during this stretch of time. 
By Chet Mills: With still no official word as to who Oscar De La Hoya will be facing for his final fight on December 6th, it seems as if the leading candidate in the running is small lightweight Manny Pacquiao, the 5’6″ Filipino star. Antonio Margarito, fresh off his 10th round TKO of Miguel Cotto, is apparently in the running as well, although most boxing fans doubt that he’ll land the fight with Oscar. 
By Manuel Perez: If you’re like me, you were expecting much more from Oscar De La Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs) for his so-called last fight of his boxing career likely against super featherweight Manny Pacquiao (37-5, 27 KOs) on December 6th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Besides the whole silly image of a fighter of De La Hoya’s size going out of the game against Pacquiao, whose miniature 5’6″ frame is going to make him look like a Lilliputian next to the 5’11” De La Hoya, the fight isn’t what the public wants from Oscar for his final fight. Heck, he’s already fought two consecutive smaller fighters in Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Steve Forbes, fighters obviously chosen, among other reasons, for their smaller size and inability to hurt the bigger De La Hoya. 
By Dean Harman: As one would expect, number #1 ranked IBF welterweight Joshua Clottey (35-2, 20 KOs) defeated former undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah (36-6, 25 KOs) on Saturday night, beating him by a 9th round technical decision to claim the vacant IBF welterweight title at the Palms Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was stopped after Judah, 30, sustained a wide cut over his right eye early in the 9th, and complained to the ringside doctor that he couldn’t see out of his eye. Obviously, by Judah saying that, he basically was giving the doctor the ammunition to end the fight, which he promptly did. 
By Thomas Hanson: Since his brutal 11th round TKO loss to challenger Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs), there’s been a lot of speculation about what former WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) will do next to rebound from the loss. For most boxing fans, they would like nothing better than to see Cotto get right back in the ring and fight Margarito in a rematch at the end of the year, perhaps in November or December. This would be the best scenario, because a rematch between the two of them would be a huge fight, a tremendous moneymaker for both fighters. 
By Manuel Perez: Now that newly crowned WBA welterweight champion Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs) has finished off Miguel Cotto and put him to rest, the natural next opponent for Margarito would seem to be boxing great Oscar De la Hoya (39-5, 30 KOs), who previously hinted at wanting to fight Cotto if he were to defeat Margarito. However, Margarito upset those plans by erasing Cotto, thus taking away what would have been a huge big money fight for De la Hoya, who plans on bowing out of boxing on December 6th. Alas, De la Hoya hasn’t so far shown any interest in fighting Margarito in December, which somehow I find not too surprising. With the way Margarito decimated Cotto, almost taking head of in the process of taking him apart bit by bit on Saturday night, leaving him a bloody mess.