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.

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The boxing reality show The Contender has found a new home, a new weight class, and its most impressive roster of fighters yet. After one season on NBC, and two on ESPN, the showcase for up-and-coming fighters will now be shown on the Versus Network. Let’s hope it does better than their famously low-rated NHL coverage. The new season will begin in December.

In the past few months Versus has intermittently put its toes in the boxing waters; its most notable event being May’s Ricky Hatton vs. Juan Lazcano bout. The Contender solidifies the fledgling network’s dedication to the sweet science.

This year’s Contender crop will feature cruiserweights (200 lb.) rather than previous years’ middleweight contestants.

The result of frequent Contender title shots (Sergio Mora, Peter Manfredo Jr., Steve Forbes) means an even better set of fighters this time around. Among them are boxrec.com’s #8, #9 and #10 ranked cruisers (!) Vadim Tokarev, B.J. Flores, and (!) O’Neill Bell (last seen sleepwalking in Katowice against Tomasz Adamek) respectively.

We will be profiling all 12 Season Four Contenders in the near future. Until then, we here at www.jabandgrapple.com are very excited that The Contender has returned and even more excited at the terrific lineup of fighters.

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

Outside of the ring and in the business world Oscar De La Hoya is obnoxiously confident, he revels in the vicious venture capitalist role, he’s gleeful in his greed, and delighted by the power his money brings. While I’m watching HBO’s wonderful one-off documentary Countdown to Oscar De La Hoya/Steve Forbes and a pre-fight Oscar interview with boxing poet Larry Merchant I see a forthright De La Hoya who is proud of his conscienceless business kingpin role and enjoys its prominent display.

He giggles when he says “greed is good”, when he likens making money and gathering riches to an addiction, and when he announces his goal to be a billionaire. Oscar emits an air of general disingenuousness, a snake oil salesman banter. I don’t want to believe anything he says; I feel like he’s always suckering me into believing something that isn’t true. And just when you want to be repulsed by De La Hoya’s monetary ruthlessness and insincerity he flashes his wide smile, reminds you how he’s fought every good fighter and suddenly all is forgiven.

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It’s really hard to get excited about Saturday’s 150 lb. bout between Oscar De La Hoya’s tired, pragmatic, money-oozing sheen and The Contender graduate Steve Forbes‘ pleading payday-grabbing genuflection. No one expects a good fight. No one expects Forbes to have much of a chance. Boxing fans will watch out of obligation, thank HBO for gifting us a non-PPV look at the Golden Boy, and beg in our most Tiny Tim-like voice: “Please Sir, can I have another?”

Forbes must be thinking the same thing. Why else would he accept a fight at a light middleweight 150 when he’s ideally a 140 lb. light welterweight. Of course it’s partially the money but what fighter wouldn’t want to bring De La Hoya away from his customary third-row ringside, center-of-the-TV-during-every-big-fight perch?

It’s plausible for Forbes to believe that de la Hoya won’t bring the A-game he faced down Floyd Mayweather, Jr. with last year. He might even be convinced that Oscar’s HBO-24/7-exposed plush pre-Soviet Union Rocky IV lifestyle is accurate and that the chest loads of promotion money have made the Golden Boy soft. Maybe he thinks Oscar might confuse him with the other Steve Forbes, the one that’s the editor of Forbes magazine (seen above). Maybe De La Hoya has prepared twelve rounds of investment questions rather than a fight plan.

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