Boxing promised us a welterweight fight for the ages and for 11 rounds Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito provided. Margarito charged relentlessly with defiant straightforward abandon while Cotto skillfully bobbed, weaved, counterpunched and scored with inspired boxing. Power punch after power punch from both fighters, bomb after bomb.

But in the 11th it was the Mexican, the Tijuana Tornado Antonio Margarito, who proved to have the greater will as the Puerto Rican Cotto quit on his feet, too battered, unwilling and unable to summon strength in the championship rounds.

Cotto’s corner ostensibly threw in the towel but Miguel’s sinking eyes and drooped shoulders had already betrayed his self-defeat and resignation; he had to decided to give away his title rather than defend it with his last breath. It was a disappointing conclusion to what had been a thrilling study in contrasts and a ceaselessly exciting fight. As good as the fight was it deserved to be and should have been better.

Margarito started out slow, just as he had in his defeat one year ago to Paul Williams, looking outsmarted and outclassed in the first. But by the second Antonio had picked up the pace only to have his whirlwind flurries picked off and evaded by Cotto’s quick defenses and then countered by skilled straights and hooks.

Superficially in this chase Margarito looked to be dictating the action, but it was Cotto who was really in charge. He looked at ease, confident, and in control. All the while, however, Margarito was taking Cotto’s best punches and he must have realized that the Puerto Rican could not hurt him. He was the stronger man and his adversary couldn’t run forever. He was going to tire out.

The tide of control began turning in the middle rounds. The script, however, had not changed. Margarito was still charging, throwing countless flurries, uppercuts, and hooks to the body while Cotto was dodging and countering. Only now more of Margarito’s flurries and uppercuts were landing. Cotto’s left eye was cut and he was leaking blood from his nose and mouth. His counters had less force and less accuracy.

Margarito was the turned ocean, he was getting more powerful and more forceful, while Cotto’s time had passed. Cotto needed to hang on, he needed to stand steadfast against the rushing force, and he needed to bring forth the powers that make great fighters transcendent, that turn great fights into legends.

That switch never happened for Miguel Cotto and one has to wonder if his spirit is gone, like his countryman Felix Trinidad’s was after his similar shrinking against Bernard Hopkins. Tito was just 28 then and he has never returned to greatness; Cotto is just 27. We hope Miguel quickly shakes off his demons and returns to the ring soon. A prolonged departure from meaningful competition could lead him down the Trinidad path and that would be a tragedy to the sport of boxing. Cotto is still a great fighter, but tonight he just ran into a ruthless buzzsaw.

After the fight Margarito joined the litany of fighters wishing to become Oscar De La Hoya’s “final” opponent on December 6 joining every lightweight through middleweight who has won on Showtime or HBO since Oscar dropped Steve Forbes in early May. Margarito’s hook is that it’s one for Mexican supremacy, a bookend for Oscar’s illustrious career whose greatness began with his June 1996 TKO of Mexico’s all-time best Julio Cesar Chavez.

Image details: Kelly Pavlik v Jermain Taylor served by picapp.com

ESPN.com is reporting that middleweight champ Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik will face boxing’s Methuselah Bernard Hopkins on October 18 in Atlantic City, New Jersey’s Boardwalk Hall. The bout will be fought at a 170-pound catch weight and will be broadcasted on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Pavlik’s promotor Bob Arum admitted to ESPN that “This fight was not our first choice, but it was the only alternative we had to make a buck.” How’s that for salesmanship? You know Bob, it wouldn’t have been this fight fan’s first choice either — that would have been serial big fight ducker Joe Calzaghe — but it’s not bad. Hopkins doesn’t always make exciting fights but he will be a true test of Pavlik’s supposed greatness.

The Atlantic City venue should pull in a good crowd for each fight AND Arum also tells ESPN that the he has been assured by Calzaghe’s people that Kelly will get the Welshmen if both are victorious in their respective fights. We’ll believe it when we see it.

Image details: Oscar De La Hoya v Steve Forbes Weigh-In served by picapp.com

For all those pundits hoping and wishing that Bernard Hopkins would just go away, retire, and not be heard from again: your wish is not coming true. Hopkins will not go quietly into that good night. He hasn’t announced a next fight but he certainly has something to say about Chuck Giampa.

Who’s Chuck Giampa? He is the judge who scored in favor of Joe Calzaghe 116-111. Unlike Bernard, Chuck is leaving the fight game, retiring after scoring over 2,000 bouts. When ESPN.com told Hopkins of Giampa’s departure he responded pointedly, “He retired two weeks too late.”

Bernard also added his own interesting theory to the mix “Is he getting pressured? Is there something out there that we don’t know about right now, like when a politician resigns before [trouble] hits the fan? Or maybe he realized he was just too damn old to do the judging.”

The forty-three-year-old Hopkins, on the other hand, does not think he’s too damn old to keep on fighting. We wouldn’t have it any other way. We think his performance against Calzaghe proves that he’s still a top ten pound-for-pound. But might he need to leave the Golden Boy stable to get a fair shake from the judges?

Oscar de la Hoya himself seemed to agree with this statement adding in the same article that “(Golden Boy fighters) have had seven fights in Las Vegas, and when they’ve been close we’ve never got the decision. Why is that?” Presumably Oscar won’t need the refs help tonight against Steve Forbes. Nevertheless, the fight is being held in Carson, Calif. and not Sin City? Is that a coincidence similar to Giamba’s well-timed retirement? Hard to say.

Image details: Joe Calzaghe Media Interview served by picapp.com

If you call your opponent a “sore loser” doesn’t that necessarily indicate that you’re a sore winner? In Joe Calzaghe’s case it just means that he’s a classless boxer who doesn’t know when to shut up or give a great fighter credit.

What this all means is that Calzaghe is at it again, talking to BBC Two in a Sunday interview, view it here, spouting off about everything, professing his love for countryman Tom Jones and Al Pacino, insulting Bernard Hopkins‘ performance and attitude, harping about the referee and American judges, and pretending that fight fans don’t remember how he’s refused to fight against the best competition for years.

Continue reading for more quotes from the interview that haven’t made the press release transcripts. Believe me, there are dozens more that boil my blood.

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Image details: Bernard Hopkins v Joe Calzaghe served by picapp.com

Joe Calzaghe is no Ricky Hatton. He doesn’t bring legions of Britons to Las Vegas, he’s not gracious to his opponent in post-match interviews, he doesn’t want to fight dangerous young fighters, but, most importantly, he’s able to find a way to win, however controversially, against his American opponent thus maintaining his undefeated record.

Calzaghe escaped the 43-year-old Bernard Hopkins’ technical, throwback counterpuncing style with a high volume of pitter-pat slaps and occasional rabbit punches scoring a close split decision victory and the linear light heavyweight title. Judges Ted Gizma (115-112) and Chuck Giampa (116-111) scored the bout for Calzaghe; Adalaide Byrd saw it 114-113 for Hopkins. I had it 114-113 for Calzaghe. The boxers’ sharply contrasting styles (high volume light aggression vs. pointed and defensive counterpunching) proved difficult to score; espn.com score it 114-113 for Hopkins while HBO’s Harold Lederman had it 116-111 for Calzaghe.

Unsurprisingly, Hopkins floored Calzaghe in the bout’s opening round with a good straight right. In the pre-match festivites Calzaghe had looked dazed and a bit starstruck - he planted a gushing hug on a increasingly unidentifiable Tom Jones - while Hopkins stalked the ring focused and ready.

As the fight went on, however, Calzaghe caught his stride maintaining a steady, if not pain-inflicting, barrage of punches during the fight’s middle-to-late rounds. After a protracted break for a grazing low blow in the 10th Hopkins seemed re-energized and ready to rally for the stretch run.

But Calzaghe didn’t back down earning a close advantage on my scorecard in the 11th and 12th. Post-fight Calzaghe was confident despite his cut nose and bruised face declaring himself a “legend killer” and stating that Hopkins’ clear first round knock down was instead a slip. The legend comment referred to Calzaghe’s priority desire to fight Roy Jones, Jr. next instead of Chad Dawson, Kelly Pavlik, Arthur Abraham, or anyone under the age of 40.

Joe Calzaghe is a terrific fighter, undoubtedly a top ten pound-for-pound, but his career-long proclivity towards avoiding top flight competition is disappointing for any fight fan and ultimately will prevent him from ranking among the all-time greats, including the vanquished Bernard Hopkins.

Image details: Bernard Hopkins and Joe Calzaghe Grand Arrivals served by picapp.com

Welsh superstar light heavyweight Joe Calzaghe is finally coming to the United States. Las Vegas to be specific. It’s been a long time coming. He’s held a world title since 1997, he’s undefeated in 44 professional bouts, and he could be boxing biggest drawing power. (35,000+ attended both of his last two fights).

But all 44 of the 36-year-old’s fights have taken place on European soil and the respect from American fight fans never really materialized. We say it’s easy to be fast and powerful when your opponents are Peter Manfredo, Jr., Charles Brewer, and Kabary Salem.

Respect comes Saturday in the form of Bernard Hopkins, boxing’s modern-day Methuselah and one of the wiliest competitors ever to step in the ring. If Calzaghe can defeat the 43-year-old Hopkins, Las Vegas odds have him a 3-1 favorite, he may yet grab that esteem. We’re not so sure.

Even if he wins detractors may point out that Calzaghe was facing a slower, older, past-his-prime Hopkins. What they’d really be saying is why couldn’t this fight have happened six years ago. Nevertheless we’ll be watching HBO at 9:45 Saturday night with great anticipation; Calzaghe’s HBO performances thus far haven’t disappointed.

Of course, we can’t count out Hopkins. His 2006 domination over Antonio Tarver still looms in the memory especially after Tarver’s demolition last Saturday of Briton Clinton Woods. The same Clinton Woods who had been penciled in, after a presumably easy victory against Tarver, as Calzaghe’s next opponent.

The pick: Bernard Hopkins in a close decision. And not just because he’s a fellow Pennsylvanian. I think his ring savvy and experience will be too much for Calzaghe. Bernard is used to the lights of Vegas and the pressures of a mega fight while Calzaghe is a small-town Welshman with a lot to prove.