The Square Ring

by Howie Reed, THE PATTAYA MAIL

Cotto-Margarito - A Winner!
There are simply not enough superlatives to use when describing the Miguel Cotto (32-1) v. Antonio Margarito (37-5) WBA welterweight title fight last Sunday in Las Vegas. Pattaya’s O.R. Cross writes, “The Fight of the Year!! That’s what I’m calling it and if you can think of a better one please let me know because I must have missed it and it sure wouldn’t have been anything that my tired eyes have seen.”

O.R. is correct on all counts, but why was it a great fight?
Styles make fights and the two boxers here had contrasting approaches going into battle. Margarito constantly moved forward, throwing as many punches as humanly possible. That forced Cotto to always move either backwards or from side to side, sometimes both, fighting a defensive counter-punching fight.

Cotto loves to counter-punch, but to be effective he’s always done it moving forward and applying the pressure. Margarito took that plan of attack away by sheer will. There were a few occasions when Cotto temporarily gained momentum, moved forward and was effective, but those instances were few and far between.

Last week in TSR it was written, “Can he (Margarito) take Cotto’s body attack while providing the power to put Cotto on the deck more than once?” The answer was yes. Cotto was down twice. The question remains why didn’t Cotto ever go to the body with any consistency?
Previously Cotto had devastated boxers with shots to the ribs, which proved after time to be paralyzing. One possible answer is that while being on the offensive, Margarito successfully protected his body from any effective body attack. With no possibility of an effective body attack, Cotto was at a severe disadvantage.

As O.R. states, “The key to Margarito taking this was his terrific conditioning and relentless pursuit of Cotto by the taller fighter. Cotto was very impressive in the early rounds. He was faster and more agile. He was like an Ali who hit from all angles while backing up. Margarito has a rock-solid chin which was evident by the shots he took from a guy with a great KO record.”

Cotto’s problem was that he doesn’t have great one punch power. His KO’s came from accumulations of punches. Not being a one-punch fighter, Cotto couldn’t stop Margarito.

There is a psychology in place here that has mostly been overlooked by all. In the second half of the fight, even when holding his own, Cotto looked beaten mentally. Yes Cotto was moving, yes he was landing the harder punches, but Margarito never stopped coming forward while controlling the fight. Margarito was dictating the direction the fight went while never allowing Cotto a chance for a deep breath. Cotto was like a man trying to empty the Bay of Siam with a teaspoon. Eventually he was going to have to give up as he did at 2:05 of round 11.

O.R. commented: “The best round, before the end came, was the seventh when Margarito staggered Cotto with a series of uppercuts. The uppercut was a dominant feature of Margarito’s arsenal.”

O.R. is correct. Going into the fight Cotto had said, “I adjust to whatever he does.” Because of Cotto’s great natural ability, he’d been able to do just that 32 times successfully. This time he couldn’t adjust because he’s never been a boxer to lead with punches. He counterpunches but when the opponent didn’t let him counter he was up the creek without a paddle. As O.R. says, “It was the fight of the year.”

O.R. and TSR do though disagree on one important issue. After stating that both Mexican and Puerto Rican national anthems left much to be desired O.R. said, “you will probably disagree with me because musically I think Sarah Vaughn was the best-ever female singer and you’re probably a Streisand/Celine Dion fan.” Nope, the best female singer ever was Diana Washington singing “What a Difference a Day Makes” or anything else. Streisand/Celine? Not likely!

Undecided
Old geezers out there may remember the tune “Undecided” written by Sid Robbins and Charlie Shavers in 1938. It was recorded by Ella Fitzgerald (1938) with the most popular recording coming in 1951 by The Ames Brothers along with Les Brown and his Band Renowned. No? Guess it’s just me, O.R., Monkey House and Untall Paul.

For others the opening words are, “First you say you do and then your don’t. Then you say you will and then you won’t.” That’s how it is with Wayne “The Pocket” Rocket McCullough. “I’m back in training and ready for my next fight!” Actually it’s the press that’s to blame here.

McCullough announced: “Contrary to press reports, I haven’t officially announced my retirement although lately many journalists have felt the need to hang up my gloves for me. One of my problems is that I wear my heart on my sleeve and tend to say what’s on my mind. Sometimes that gets me in trouble. And that’s what happened on June 20 following my withdrawal from a fight that I was winning against Juan Ruiz in the Cayman Islands. After the bout I was being very hard on myself and told the crowd in attendance that this might be my last fight.”

McCullough then goes on to say that the press looked on his statement as a retirement speech. Yep, because it was. If the “Pocket Rocket” changes his mind that’s AOK. God Bless, God Speed. On the other hand don’t blame the press for reporting what was said. Just say, “Yep, I said it. My mind was asleep and my mouth was in motion.”

There’s a heck of lot to blame the press for but when they actually report what was said give them a pat on the back. To mention one last time, athletes should decide when they want to retire.

Jeeves Reports
Chris John was supposed to put his record of 41-0 on the line last Friday in Jakarta, defending his title against Jackson Asika (22-3). The fight was called off when neither fighter showed up at the 4PM weigh-in. Given an addition 2 hours the fighters were still “no shows.” Fight off.

Alan Kim, WBA supervisor, told fightnews.com: “This is a very rare situation, and I heard just before 6PM, that the fight was to be postponed until November. In this situation, I will make justification with all parties involved, and I will report it to the WBA headquarters.”

Local lad Tantong Kiattaweesuk, a former amateur champion, remained undefeated as a pro with an easy win, 118 all around, over Philippine evader Jonel Alivio (8-6-1). The fight, held last Friday in Bangkok, boosts Tantong’s record to 7-0.

The locals that traveled to Japan weren’t so fortunate as they went 0-3 with 2 getting KO’d and the other losing a lopsided decision. Thai lady boxer Nonglek Sith (1-1) lasted only 31 seconds of the initial stanza.

The Three-Dot Lounge…
‘Well hello there Mr. Dunahay, what’ll be? The usual?’
‘

Same ole, same ole Joe. It looks like Joltin Joe Calzaghe’s fight against Roy Jones will be put on hold. Ole Joltin Joe hurt his right wrist hitting the pads according to his trainer/dad Enzo. The September 20 scrap in New York has been delayed until November 8 in Madison Square Garden.

‘Oh yes, and Calzaghe is being sued by “maybe” former promoter Frank Warren for 2 million USD for breach of contract. You’ll remember that Calzaghe said he was a free agent … Maybe not.

‘Anything else going on?’

‘Well one of the very good old-time fighters, Joe Miceli passed on last week. He used to throw a left uppercut and hook that were devastating. His record of 60-48-8 was a little deceptive. He fought every good and great welterweight in the 50’s and 60’s including the likes of Ike Williams, Kid Gavalin, Virgil “Honey Bear” Akins, Thombstone Smith, Gene Fullmer and my favorite Yama Bahama.

‘I saw him fight on January 30, 1954. He fought local hero Wes Echols at the Richmond Auditorium and KO’d him in three. It was shown on national TV on the Saturday night fights brought to you buy White Owl Cigars. Edie Adams was the spokesman for White Owl … she’d end every commercial by saying, “Why don’t you pick one up and smoke it sometime.”

‘Funny thing Joe that everyone but Oscar De La Hoya seems concerned about who he’ll fight in his farewell appearance on December 6. One of those concerned doesn’t appear to be Oscar … He recently told reporters, “I’ll fight Cotto, Margarito, Pacaquiao. I’ll fight anyone.”

‘Margarito probably jumps to the head of the line with his win over Cotto. Oscar also validated something that I’ve been saying for some time.
‘What’s that Mr. Dunahay?’

‘Manny Pacquiao hasn’t become the big pay-per-view star that his promoter Bob Arum has presented to the public. Oscar talking about Pacquiao said: “The bout with David Diaz did not sell the way they thought it would.”

‘Joe that translates to less money. He might be trying to lay a subtle hint that Manny needs him as an opponent for really big bucks … He might be right.

‘Another one Mr. Dunahay?’

‘Just one more then back to the old grind. Kelly Pavlik and Bernard Hopkins will hook it up October 18 on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. They’ll fight at the ever-popular catch weight of 170lbs. Well Joe got to move on. Too much amber fluid and I tend to blabber on.’

‘Never noticed that Mr. Dunahay. Have a good day.’

“Left Hook” Lacy - back?
TSR sometimes refers to Joe Calzaghe’s “pitty-pat-punches”. That wasn’t the case back in March of ‘06 when he pounded Jeff “Left Hook” Lacy into a lopsided win that was 119 all around.

It was Lacy’s first and only loss from 25 fights. Since then he’s had a couple of operations for injuries and a couple of dubious wins. Last week he was facing a pretty darn good super-middleweight named Epifanio Mendoza (28-6). The bout turned into a slugfest that went the full 10. In the end Lacy got a majority decision (95-95, 97-93, 95-95), which wasn’t really controversial but just plan “bad.” Mendoza deserved at the least a draw.

Following that fight the rumor surfaced that a match-up between Lacy and Jermain Taylor would be next. That would have given the tarnished boxers a chance to regain some of the luster that they had coming out of the 2000 Olympics.

Speaking to the Tampa Tribune Lacy said, “There will be no fight between me and Jermain. I’m just retiring. I’m done. This business is dirty. That’s all I have to say. This is a very dirty business. I would advise anyone who has kids not to ever let them fight in this business.” Wonder how Jeff really feels?

Jeeves Time
“Your Lordship you look a little under the weather today, too much time in the Three Dot Lounge? I have an email for you from your friend Ms. D’Eva who says she “completely agrees with you about ‘Pretty (empty headed) Floyd Foulweather.’

“Also Monkey House has checked in with a blonde joke. A blonde said, ‘I was worried that my car mechanic might try and rip me off. I was relieved when he told me all I needed was turn signal fluid.’