It was a busy weekend of boxing with four fights that garner my picture/review treatment. Showtime featured two of the most exciting welterweights in the world in a co-main event as Antonio Margarito faced Joshua Clottey while Puerto Rican sensation Miguel Cotto battled fellow countryman Carlos Quintana. HBO featured Jeff Lacy against Vitali Typsko and a main event pitting Winky Wright against Ike “Bazooka” Quartey.
Antonio Margarito vs. Joshua Clottey – WBO Welterweight Title
Margarito is best known for not being known. He claims he is the most ducked and dodged fighter in the world and he has a pretty good case. Floyd Mayweather was offered $8 million to fight Margarito and turned it down for an easier opponent (Baldomir). Margarito still is waiting on a main event fighter to give him a break but until then he keeps fighting his mandatory challengers. Paul Williams is the new WBO #1 contender so should Margarito win tonight, he’ll have his hands full with Williams. Margarito came in with a record of 33-4 (24 KOs) while Clottey entered with a record of 29-1 (18 KOs).
Antonio Margarito is definitely an exciting fighter but all his self-promotion as the most ducked fighter in the world has also turned him into an overrated fighter. He’s a busy fighter that makes you work and gives you no time to rest, but he’s technically flawed. He doesn’t really have a defense as he’s always throwing punches. Joshua Clottey is known as a dirty fighter that uses all the referee warnings he is allowed within a fight. This one could get dirty.
Clottey dominated early with his quickness. Margarito’s hand speed couldn’t keep up with Clottey’s head and foot movement. Showtime’s announcers blamed Margarito’s propensity to be a slow starter but that’s bullshit. Clottey deserves the credit for outclassing Margarito in the first four rounds. He avoided Margarito’s wild punches easily and drilled the taller champion with combinations. In the fifth round, Margarito threw a constant stream of punches at Clottey while the challenger did nothing but play defense. It turns out that Clottey broke his left hand in the fourth hand. This changed the pace of the fight and momentum swung over to Margarito’s side.
Margarito’s superb conditioning allowed him to capitalize on Clottey’s newfound hesitancy. The injury sapped all of Clottey’s energy. He attempted to explode with a few combos per round but it wasn’t enough to steal rounds from the active Margarito. Clottey showed life in the eighth round and looked on the verge of a comeback but he was blistered in the corner during the ninth round to curb any of those notions. Clottey tried boxing from the outside (running) during the 10th round but the crowd booed his ass. He simply was trying to survive the final two rounds and did just that in making it to a decision. The result was a unanimous decision for Antonio Margarito. Two judges scored an accurate 116-112 while one judge was way off the mark giving the fight a score of 118-109.
Up next for Margarito should be WBO mandatory contender Paul Williams. That will be a bloodbath. I can’t wait for that one. Should Margarito win, a bout with Miguel Cotto was discussed. It sounds like 2007 could be a big year for Antonio Margarito.
Miguel Cotto vs. Carlos Quintana – WBA Welterweight Title
This is Miguel Cotto’s first fight at welterweight. He spent two years as light welterweight champion and was looking for a second world title in just his first fight at 147 pounds. His opponent, like Cotto, is undefeated and a native of Puerto Rico. Quintana is coming off of a June destruction of welterweight prospect Joel Julio. Quintana is a great fighter but he had to have been just a little intimidated by Cotto. The guy looks like a monster at welterweight and with his shaved head, Cotto bears a striking resemblance to Bald Bull.
Miguel Cotto attacked early as he was expected to do. I expected to see more jabs from Cotto but he seemed content relying on his power punches. Quintana did a good job eluding Cotto’s shots but he’s going to have to do work for twelve rounds if that’s his strategy. He better be in top condition because if he relaxes he’ll get caught.
Cotto turned southpaw in the fifth round and finally started to land some of those power shots. Quintana went down to a vicious left hook to the body. He beat the count but looked to be in bad shape. Cotto pressed the action on Quintana and put him down to the mat once again. The ref stops the count at seven to have a conversation with Quintana regarding the continuation of the fight. What? Keep counting. He doesn’t get a timeout during a countout. Quintana gets up and survives the final twenty seconds for a very odd ending to the round.
Carlos Quintana decides he’s had enough while in his corner and doesn’t come out for the sixth round. Good for him. His cornerman needs to be fired and then kicked in the balls. Quintana had nothing left and looked like shit. His corner ignored all that and tried to will Quintana to keep fighting “for his family.” Their number one priority is to protect their fighter and they didn’t seem to interested in that. They even looked disappointed when he chose to end the fight. Jose Bonilla, his trainer, is a douchebag and deserves a turd in his breakfast.
Cotto got the convincing win and looks to have an even bigger 2007 than Margarito but a showdown between the two next year is very likely.
Jeff Lacy vs. Vitali Tsypko
Lacy was a member of the 2000 US Olympic Team and suffered his first loss as a professional last March to Joe Calzaghe. Most fighters can easily recover from their first loss but this was such a one-sided ass-kicking from Calzaghe that many wondered how Lacy would rebound. Vitali Tsypko was basically hand-picked as a confidence booster for Jeff Lacy. This is actually the second meeting between these two fighters. Their first meeting in June of 2004 was ruled a no contest when the fight was stopped in the second round due to a cut on Tsypko from an accidental headbutt.
Jeff Lacy looks like a powerhouse and acted like it in the early rounds of this super middleweight bout. He wobbled Tsypko across the ring in the second round but couldn’t quite put the Ukranian down. Tsypko received another cut due to an accidental headbutt after the third round but this was next to his left eye and didn’t obstruct his vision. After the fourth round it was safe to say that Tsypko had taken some of Lacy’s best shots. Either Tsypko has a good chin or Lacy’s power has already begun to fade.
Tsypko rallied late, even buckling Lacy’s knees with a shot in the eighth round. I was very surprised to see a tenth and final round in this contest. Both corners tell their fighter that he needs the final round. Keep in mind that this fight is in Jeff Lacy’s home state. It would be hard for Tsypko to come in and win a close decision in his opponent’s home state. That proved to be true as Jeff Lacy emerged victorious with a majority decision. Despite the win, Lacy is a long way away from where people thought he was before Calzaghe exposed him.
Winky Wright vs. Ike Quartey
Both fighters are coming off of controversial decisions. Winky Wright fought Jermain Taylor to a draw in a fight Winky felt he won while Ike Quartey was robbed in a unanimous decision loss to Vernon Forrest. This contest was fought at middleweight which comes as an advantage to Winky Wright.
The fight starts in the center of the ring and stays there for most of the fight. Quartey goes down to close the second round but it looks more like a slip. The referee rules it a knockdown. After four rounds this is turning into a boring fight. Winky Wright tends to have that effect on fights.
An exciting flurry opens up the fifth round and I’m shocked. This naturally subsides after thirty seconds and Winky goes back to bullying Quartey. Another knockdown is wrongfully given to Winky Wright in the seventh round. The referee ruled that Quartey’s glove touched the mat but replays clearly showed it wasn’t even close. It bears mentioning that some moron is ruining the fight by constantly yelling “Bazooka!” and some other three-syllable barb for the entire twelve rounds. The crowd gets to their feet in the ninth round for some hubub in the stands. It’s probably a fight. Unfortunately it’s not with the obnoxious yeller.
The twelfth and final round saw Winky toy with Quartey because Winky is a prick. He allowed Quartey to hit his guard only to retaliate with a flurry of his own to delight his hometown fans. The result was a unanimous decision for Winky Wright. Winky stated he wanted to fight the winner of Oscar and Floyd. Those two don’t fight until May so I hope he plans to keep busy in the meantime.
Other Results From The Week
– Otis Griffin, FOX’s Next Great Champ winner, defeated Juan Carlos Sanchez by unanimous decision to improve his record to 15-1-2 (5 KOs).
– Takalani Ndlovu defended his IBO Super Bantamweight Title with a split decision win over Ricardo Castillo.
– Gary Balletto of The Contender 2 defeated Matthew Strode by TKO in the 9th round.
– David Gogiya upset super middleweight Jackson Chanet with a unanimous decision in Chanet’s home country.
– Javier Castillejo dropped his WBA Middleweight title to Mariano Natalio Carrera. Carrera scored an 11th round TKO to capture the title.
– Felix Sturm cut Gavin Topp in the sixth round of their fight and that forced the stoppage for the TKO victory. Sturm will likely challenge Carrera for his newly won belt.
– Rey Bautista remained undefeated as a super bantamweight with his win over Giovanni Andrade when Andrade failed to answer the bell to start the 4th round.
