Boxing: Cotto collides with Margarito Saturday at Madison SG

Reigning WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico is set to collide with Mexican Antonio Margarito at the Madison Square Garden in New York Saturday night with Cotto's WBA crown on the line

The fully sold out fight is a rematch of their 2008 bloody flight that later become a reference for speculation after Margarito was caught with illegal substance in his hand wraps a few minutes before he entered the ring during his fight with Shane Mosley at the Staples Center, California, in 2009. In 2008, Margarito and Cotto fought in a welterweight match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas with Margarito inflicting heavy damage on Cotto in a bloody match that ended in the 11th round TKO in favor of Margarito. After the illegal hand wraps incident in 2009, Margarito's license to fight in California was suspended along with his trainer Jose Capetillo after a thorough investigation by the state regulating agency. Because of the illegal hand wrap incident, boxing insiders and critics speculated the same may have been used by Margarito in their first encounter. In a press conference last Wednesday, Cotto could not hide his anger and called Margarito a criminal for having used illegal hand wraps in their first fight. Cotto looked at Margarito and said, “You should be embarrassed to be a Mexican.” Margarito denied Cotto's allegations and reminded the Puerto Rican about his own criminal act when he threw punches at his uncle and trainer in 2009 which caused their estrangement. The Margarito vs. Cotto fight is expected to attract thousands of boxing fans from Puerto Rico and Mexico as well as Puerto Rican and Mexican residents in New York. Earlier, the Top Rank-promoted boxing event was nearly cancelled and moved to another venue as the New York Sports Athletic Commission refused to issue Margarito's license to fight in New York on medical grounds. It may be recalled that Margarito suffered heavy damaged on his eye leading to a fractured orbital bone after his bloody fight with pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao last year The fight is available onHBO pay-per-view at US$55.00. Tickets for the live event at the venue has reportedly been fully sold out two days before the fight.