Cotto-Margarito Face Off, First Fight, First Fight Highlights, Ring Life and 24/7 Ep 1&2

tcribb wrote:Is this fight still going ahead as planned lads?

AlexHuckerby wrote:New York State Athletic Commission are being appealed by Arum so that Marg can fight in the New York State area, I think the hearing is on the 18th of this month.

Scottrf wrote:Interesting in that Cotto says it's not worth putting his health on the line in the ring in the way Margarito did vs Pacquiao.

I don't know why so many dislike Kellerman. I think he's a massive asset to HBO.

Scottrf wrote: I don't know why so many dislike Kellerman. I think he's a massive asset to HBO.

Steffan wrote:The Marg is an animal and is gonna beat Cotto again. Maybe an even earlier stoppage this time

Nico the gman wrote:

Steffan wrote:The Marg is an animal and is gonna beat Cotto again. Maybe an even earlier stoppage this time

Pure and simple a cheat and an animal who was easily tamed by Manny and Sugar Shane.

Commander wrote:Looks in jeopardy at the moment as Marg's licence has been refused.

Commander wrote:Looks in jeopardy at the moment as Marg's licence has been refused.

TumblingDice wrote:However, Marg is rocking a great big bushy chin beard, like a latin wizard.

Bob Arum is furious with the New York State Athletic Commission and chairperson Melvina Lathan over what appears to be an imminent denial in Antonio Margarito's application for license to box in the state, which is sending the scheduled December 3 Cotto vs Margarito rematch west. From Jake Donovan at BoxingScene.com:

"The commission completely sandbagged us. During their testimony, Melvina Lathan – the commissioner – turns around and says, 'Don’t believe them; they’re lying.' This woman who knows nothing says that the two leading ophthalmologists are lying. A building that is 90% sold out and they’re going to pull this."

As the New York commission has denied request for comment, we're getting only the Top Rank side of the story right now, and frankly speaking, it appears as though Arum has a legit complaint, but there are two sides to this.

Margarito's eye, opthamologist testimony or not, is in questionable shape at best. Good enough for some commissions, apparently not good enough for New York. The NYSAC is a very strict commission. Other commissions -- Arum says Texas, Colorado and Mississippi -- will let this pass, but there are also commissions out there who licensed Tommy Morrison (West Virginia) in the last decade, too.



One commission licensing Margarito does not mean all of them will, or that all of them should, or even that any of them should. Israel Vazquez fought in California with a bad eye last year. Didn't go well. Not all commissions are created equal, to say the least, and New York is known for taking a hard line on medical issues. Texas, on the other hand, is not. Texas re-licensed Evander Holyfield after Holyfield had his taken away in New York, and they also licensed Edwin Valero despite his having a brain bleed due to a motorcycle accident, earlier in his career. I also think Jermain Taylor would have had a tough time making his upcoming comeback if he'd targeted New York.

BUT!

If the NYSAC only recently gained knowledge of Margarito having eye surgery this year -- which is the only good explanation for why they would allow Margarito and Top Rank to apply for a license late in the game, why Lathan and thus the commission would support the September 20 press conference in New York (Lathan attended), and why they allowed for tickets to be sold to the Madison Square Garden show -- then why didn't they know more? Infrequent readers of boxing web sites knew that Margarito had eye surgery this year for bad injuries. Wasn't anyone on top of this?

This is a situation that just doesn't happen often. There will be an official announcement made tomorrow as to whether or not Margarito will be licensed by New York, but the odds aren't looking good at all, and if Arum is bold enough to make the statements he's making, then it's almost a lock that New York isn't licensing Margarito, and Arum is trying to find a new venue immediately.

Another possible consequence here: Big-time boxing has been largely absent in New York thanks to a lot of factors, notably the taxes on fighters' purses, and this may make Top Rank reluctant to go back any time soon.

Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated has more on the ongoing saga that is the Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito rematch, scheduled for December 3. According to Mannix, Texas licensed Margarito this morning, which may point to the fight being moved to Cowboys Stadium or San Antonio, as previously rumored.

Margarito (38-7, 27 KO) is likely being denied his license in New York, which hasn't been made official yet, but making it official is about all that remains. If Top Rank believed that Margarito would be licensed in New York after yesterday's closed-door hearing, they wouldn't have gone to Texas at all, and all of these venue rumors wouldn't be floating.


For those wondering why New Jersey, which is of course next door to New York, isn't being considered, it's pretty simple. Jersey may simply not want to make a spectacle of licensing a fighter that New York won't. It could be a political move. Crossing the New York commission wouldn't help them out in any way, and frankly, the medical concerns about Margarito are probably very legitimate.

This all should have been sorted out a long time ago, at any rate. The fight looks like it has to move, HBO is reportedly furious over all of this (and rightly so), and Texas appears the likely destination.

I wonder how Miguel Cotto feels about all of this? MSG was supposed to be his home field, and he's losing that.

oxring wrote:

TumblingDice wrote:However, Marg is rocking a great big bushy chin beard, like a latin wizard.

They've made him up to look like one of the Mexican villains from a spaghetti western. Its amazing.

TopHat24/7 wrote:Margacheato should be allowed, nay, forced into this fight even if he's half blind so Cotta can dish out the resptrospective punishment his crimes deserve. The fact he's been allowed to build on these crimes to add millions to his bank balance is one of the biggest disgraces in boxing today.

coxy0001 wrote:Not sure how you want Marg to win, i guess you've never watched the Pinto documentary or appreciate what he carried in his gloves?

Side note, what's happened to trash talk? I can't be held responsible this time as i was too busy getting interviewed by the biggest digital agency in the world.