Miguel Cotto has a huge fan base because he is an aggressive fighter, who was knocking out opponents left right and center and appeared unbeatable until the fight with Margarito. In that fight Margarito was like the terminator, relentless stalking Cotto until he eventually broke him down in the 11th round. Many people believe that Cotto will never be the same fighter again because of that defeat, but ever since Margarito was banned because of an illegal substance found in his had wraps (similar to plaster of paris, it hardened when it became wet to give Margarito literally hands of stone) Cotto seems to have been re-energised, and as such put on a great performance against Chorley based fighter Michael Jennings in Madison Square gardens with a 5th round TKO.
Joshua Clottey is a huge fighter for Welterweight, and the only losses on his record also came from Antonio Margarito where he lost a unanimous decision over 12 rounds back in 2006, and a disqualification against Carlos Manuel Baldomir in round 11 in 1999 (Baldomir went on to beat Zab Judah, Aturo Gatti but lost to Floyd Mayweather). Clottey had just had a good win over Zab Judah, and this was set to be an explosive fight.
The opening round saw good work coming from Clottey, and he looked to be doing enough to win the round until he was knocked down by a fast, stiff jab from Cotto that he didn’t see coming right at the end of the round. It was a flash knockdown, as he was unhurt but visibly annoyed at having thrown away the round. Clottey was much more cautious in the 2nd round, most likely due to the knockdown which allowed Cotto back into the fight, but the third round saw a clash of heads that opened up a nasty cut above Cotto’s left eye. Many fans were concerned that this could end the fight early, but this ignited the action as Clottey smelled blood and increased his attack, and Cotto tried to end the fight.
Despite being clearly distracted by the blood in his eye, Cotto still managed to win rounds but was taking some big shots from Clottey, but it should silence any doubters that asked questions about his chin since the Margarito fight. In round 5, Cotto pushed Clottey to the ground in an attempt to break from a clinch, and Clottey feigned injury in such a way that even Christiano Ronaldo would be proud of. He stopped the action for nearly 2 minutes as he made out he had some sort of knee or ankle injury, but seconds later seemed light on his feet when the referee restarted the action. Cotto made up for this in round 6 after visibly hurting him with a shot early in the round, and then trapping him in the corner and repeatedly battering him for most of the round.
Surprisingly Clottey came back in the seventh round, finding regular success with combinations of flurries and uppercuts. Cotto managed to survive the attacks, and came back with his own assaults landing slightly cleaner punches, although he was clearly still distracted by the blood in his eyes (his cutman was doing an epic job of steming the flow of blood between rounds). In round 9, Cotto seemed tired and Clottey seemed to be getting his second wind, looking the much stronger of the two fighters. Cotto went into survival mode, but was still throwing punches and managing to keep his man at bay with good boxing skills. In the final round, Clottey simply wasn’t doing enough to win the round and was being outboxed, and constantly working to get extra time and point deductions for Cotto by complaining of low blows and punches to the back of the head.
Cotto won the fight by split decision, in what can only be described as a thrilling and thoroughly entertaining contest. Margarito is going to be back from his ban, possibly as early as september, and I think Cotto will definitely be looking for a rematch. It’s certainly a fight that the fans want to see, and Cotto is possibly getting back to his original form now after his defeat.
