Even if You're a Mixed Martial Arts Fan, Don't Forget About Cotto vs. Margarito Tonight

by Luke Thomas on Jul 26, 2008 11:18 AM EDT in News Comment 14 comments

I never understood the adversarial nature some MMA fans adopt towards boxing. They act as if enjoying combat sports is a zero sum game. It's not, of course, and for those more enlightened tonight's combat sports offerings extend beyond the cage and CBS. Tonight is Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito, a fantastic style match-up with rich tradition of national rivalry underpinning the whole affair. It's also one of those fights that happens every so often that reminds you boxing is as great as we remember it. SBNation's own Bad Left Hook explains the significance:

And so we arrive at this. The battle. The fight that will hopefully kickstart a grand second half of 2008 for boxing. A hope that might be futile, with such lackluster (in terms of action) matchups as Calzaghe-Jones and Pavlik-Hopkins on the slate, plus whatever grand show Oscar puts on in December. And don't think for a second that after he watches tonight's fight, Oscar will really want to put his face on the line against the winner of this one.

Cotto sits as a -275 favorite entering the fight, Margarito as a +215 underdog. It seems that the entire world is picking Cotto to win a grueling contest. But there is also no one in the world that can't foresee Margarito being the man to take the "0" away from the toast of Puerto Rico.

There aren't a whole lot of fights that come down the pipe that promise to be as good as this one should be. The last time I felt this way about a matchup, it was prior to the first meeting of Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez. The style clash is premade for fireworks, drama, blood and heavy doses of pain on both sides of the equation.

No more time to wait. No more time to think about the fight. It's here. It's time for Cotto-Margarito.

They'll be live blogging the event over there. I highly suggest you check it out if you can. You may be surprised at how entertained you actually are.

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I never understood the adversarial nature some MMA fans adopt towards boxing.

Siege mentality I suppose.

Should be a great fight hopefully.

by -Sam on Jul 26, 2008 11:21 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Nice post

It’s the first time I’ve seen something related to my country here, I’m from P.R. and although i would like to watch EliteXC tonight, I’m a fan of boxing as well and I can’t pass this opportunity. This fight has fireworks written all over it. And I would like to recommend this fight as well to everyone out there.

by demonianray on Jul 26, 2008 11:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

This is the best the sport of boxing has to offer. There is no run in either opponent. Both have tremendous hearts and will leave it all in the ring. I’m watching both. Seems like Showtime also has a bunch of Elite’s on, is the CBS one on tonight the only trully live MMA?

by Tommy7 on Jul 26, 2008 11:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The adversarial nature...

...has caused a lot of people to miss a pretty good stretch for boxing, 2007 was a fantastic year for the sport. Even fights that were expected to “miss” this year like Roy Jones Jr. vs. Tito Trinidad were very good. And some under the radar fights like Katsidis vs. Casamayor were just awesome. And those aren’t even the current “fight of the year candidates.” Seriously…don’t cheat yourself out of good fights because you have some overly defensive attitude.

Tonight’s fight is going to be a great one, and Cotto is “the man” for the future of the sport. His skills are flat sick. So it’s really a fight that everyone who enjoys combat sports should see.

I’d suggest checking out the PPV, but I don’t expect anyone to skip EXC tonight…but generally showtime and HBO rerun their big PPV fights on the undercard of a live fight a week or two later. I’ll have to check on if that is the case with tonight’s fight. But I imagine it will be shown as part of the August 2nd cable broadcast.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison

by Brent Brookhouse on Jul 26, 2008 11:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I’ve always found boxing boring, don’t know why but I do. Of course then again, my step-father finds MMA boring… I still haven’t figured that one out.

by EnsignFrog on Jul 26, 2008 12:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I used to enjoy boxing. But I just find it far too frustrating now, way too one dimensional.

by Benicio on Jul 26, 2008 6:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’ll watch the replay. this is a great fight potentially, but I think Cotto will have to much for him.

I’m not paying that much for one fight. the undercard is unimpressive and imo, that is one of boxings biggest problems today.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 26, 2008 12:59 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed.

I was talking to Scott last night about how bad the undercard is. I probably will wait for the replay also for that fact. You don’t get that “semi-main event” type of fight much in boxing these days. I will certainly agree with that.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison

by Brent Brookhouse on Jul 26, 2008 1:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bingo!

It’s not that MMA fans hate boxing per se. However, we like to watch multiple fights and multiple fighters fight for our $40 bucks. I really don’t have the patience for 12 rounds where the only moves possible are punches.

The same reasons I prefer Football over basketball is the same reason I prefer MMA over boxing. There are more strategic elements involved. It’s more of a chess match. In boxing, the guy with the tougher chin will win often win out. The guy gifted in punching and dodging will be hard to beat. In MMA, you can still win even if you have a weak chin. A god-like striker could still lose via submission. And vice versa, a champion jujitsu guy could very well get knocked out. There are more room for a game plan due to the added complexity. A top boxer is tough to beat. However, a guy who’s well rounded but not gifted at any one element in MMA could dominate.

I don’t mind watching great boxing matches. I just don’t want to pay for it.

by cyph on Jul 26, 2008 1:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Believe me, boxing fans share your dismay at the comparison between cards for the dollar in the worlds of MMA and boxing pay-per-view. Don King used to load up cards in the 90s; no more of that bullshit!

The thing is, somebody years ago did market research and found that people apparently don’t care about the undercard. I think this is true of a lot of “casual” sorts; they’ll pay 50 dollars and not even watch the undercard, just drink and fuck around until the main event starts. But that’s no reason to penalize the diehards that pay for every PPV (or close to it) and are treated to a shit steak. Also, who does it hurt to get attractive fights with good fighters on the undercard of a heavily-publicized card?

The other problem is everyone has main eventer mentality. “I’m not fighting below anyone!” Well have fun in front of 950 fans in Temecula, then.

"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum

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Bad Left Hook

by SC on Jul 26, 2008 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I grew up on boxing. In comparison to MMA, I just find boxing boring. When two good boxers are in the ring, it’s special. But good matches are few and far between. With MMA, you never know what can happen. Boxing is getting predictable. The guy who’s supposed to win usually does. I do want to see this fight. But I rarely do PPV’s. Especally when it replays for free the following week.

by Cmad77 on Jul 26, 2008 2:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

eh...

I hardly would say boxing is getting predictable. It is slightly moreso than MMA, but the days of constant mismatches are fast leaving the world of boxing. At least at the top levels. Just this Wednesday we had a great fight on ESPN…there have been pretty major upsets and performances nobody saw coming.

I really don’t find any problem with people who don’t watch boxing because they don’t like it though. Not every sport is for everyone and that is fine. My problem (and I think Luke’s as well) are the MMA fans who treat boxing like some sort of competition that you MUST hate.

I still say no one can appreciate truly good boxing technique in MMA if you haven’t seen truly great boxers…

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison

by Brent Brookhouse on Jul 26, 2008 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs