AFTER the beating Miguel Cotto took at the hands (hardened wraps?) of Antonio Margarito in Las Vegas last July, nearly everyone in the boxing fraternity was concerned about his health and his boxing future.
“Losing your first fight is a traumatic event,” said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum. “Great fighters lose a fight and come back better than ever. Some are never the same again.”
Cotto will offer evidence on how fully he has recovered when the Puerto Rican meets England’s Michael Jennings for the vacant WBO welterweight title tonight at Madison Square Garden. It’s part of a pay-per-view ($44.95) doubleheader with Kelly Pavlik defending his WBC middleweight title against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Rubio in Youngstown, Ohio.
Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) was considered the best welterweight on the planet when he was stopped in the 11th round by Margarito, who captured Cotto’s WBA welterweight crown just to lose it to Shane Mosley last month in a controversial bout in Los Angeles. Margarito was caught with hardened wraps before that fight and had his boxing license revoked for at least a year by the California State Athletic Commission.
Only Margarito and his camp know whether he wore illegal wraps in his fight with Cotto, who suffered several cuts and was soaked in blood when the bout was stopped. Cotto refuses to dwell on the speculation other than saying Margarito shouldn’t be allowed to fight anywhere until his license in California is reinstated. His main focus is to return to the top of the welterweight division.
“My career was at the point where it was going very well,” Cotto said. “After the loss, I wanted to get back to that same level and that’s what I intend to do with this fight. I want to show everyone a convincing win and that I’m ready to get back to the level that I was before July.”
Cotto admits he knows little about Jennings, who is a virtual unknown and will be fighting for the first
time outside the United Kingdom.
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Maureen Shea and John Duddy will headline the undercard at the Garden. Shea (13-0, 7 KOs) will be fighting against Kina Malpartida of Lima, Peru, for the first female WBA super featherweight title.
“I knew my day would come,” Shea said. “I’m extremely excited and I feel the strongest I’ve felt in my entire life.”
The last time Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) was in the Garden, he earned a majority decision over Walid Smichet, but suffered cuts severe enough to ruin a potential title shot against Pavlik. Since then Duddy has changed trainers and is embroiled in a legal dispute with his former promoter Irish Ropes. He’s hoping a victory tonight over Matt Vanda (39-8, 22 KOs) of St. Paul, Minn., will lead to another shot at Pavlik.