Writers and Dummies

Can you even imagine a boxing article appearing in print or online in America with the title “Blood, bravado and a life-long bout of guilty pleasure”? This piece, posted Tuesday, July 29, by The Guardian of the UK, and written by David Foot, begins, “It is no bad thing to examine our conscience from time to time.”

With the exception of the hearty few associated with this blog, and perhaps a handful more, there is no boxing writer in America who can pack more insight into 1000 words than David Foot has done in just those 13 words. And that is just the start of his piece.

I have come to the conclusion that the editors and publishers of both the online and print boxing media, and those general and sports publications which occasionally feel obliged to go what they believe to be slumming by dabbling in the sweet science, all studied at the Fred Sanford School of Journalism. That comedic character, played by Redd Foxx, barked at almost everyone, “You big dummy!”

That is the attitude of our editors and publishers, that everyone is a big dummy, and that they should be treated as such.

Of course, Redd Foxx was a comedian and an actor, which seems lost on these types. Perhaps we now know who the real big dummies are.

Some fighters are just too strong for others to box

Antonio Margarito was simply too strong for Miguel Cotto to box or fight when they met on July 26, 2008. For the first four or five rounds, while he could sprint for most of the round, Cotto could pick his spots, flurry and get away from Margarito. But a fighter can only maintain that pace for so long. Eventually, he has to come up for air. The problem is, when he has a fighter like Margarito in front of him, he pays a price for trying to catch a breather.

Cotto was forced to let his hands go, or try to get distance between himself and Margarito. When he was fresh and letting his hands go, he was able to keep Margarito off him and occupied. However, not having the punch to deter Margarito, sapped his stamina. Being forced to either cut-loose, or try and get away takes a lot out of a fighter physically, and just as importantly, mentally too.

Once Cotto started to wind down, Margarito was met with less resistance as he plowed forward and worked Cotto's head and body. That was followed by Cotto accepting that he couldn't hold him off, therefor his next best thing was to try and get away from him so he couldn't be further worked over. The trouble with that was, with his stamina depleting, he couldn't get away fast enough. Obviously, a slow fighter can move faster going forward than a faster fighter can go back. Once Cotto couldn't fight Margarito off or escape his aggression, it was just a matter of time until he has nothing left to draw from mentally or physically. Adding to Cotto's problems were the fact that, Margarito is very unusual in that, in addition to being strong, he throws 100 punches per round. So his pressure is intensified by his work rate.

Miguel Cotto is a better boxer, faster of hand and foot, and capable of putting his punches together better than Antonio Margarito. He's also a bigger puncher. Yet he was stopped by him. And the reason for that is, Margarito is simply too strong for him physically, which translates into mentally as well as the fight progresses. Miguel Cotto fought the best he could versus Antonio Margarito. There's nothing anyone could've told him to do that would've made a difference in the outcome of the fight.

Bottom line: Some fighters are just too strong for others to box. If one need any proof of that, watch the replay of Antonio Margarito vs Miguel Cotto.