Cotto/Margo Not Setting Vegas On Fire

The Miguel Cotto/Antonio Margarito fight on July 26 at the MGM Grand, one of the most anticipated fights of the year for hardcore boxing fans, is proving a lukewarm attraction in sizzling Vegas.↵↵If this trend continues, it could have serious implications for each fighter’s potential to participate in some upcoming marquee fights, particularly Cotto. Much more than Margarito, Cotto is the fighter the boxing world is hoping will replace the retired Money Mayweather and the soon-to-be-retired Oscar De La Hoya as a cash-cow superstar of the sport. If Cotto’s fight with Margarito, a bout that to fight fans looks like Godzilla vs. King Kong at 147 pounds (check out the promo below) turns out to be a financial bust, then his dollar value undoubtedly will plummet on the open market. ↵

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↵↵De La Hoya is probably somewhat troubled by this news, although he may be also slightly relieved. Cotto is more and more seeming like the last best hope for Oscar’s scheduled retirement mega-fight in December, and The Golden Boy can’t be entirely pleased to know that his must-have opponent is looking like he has little or no juice as a Vegas draw.↵

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↵↵On the other hand, Oscar doesn’t really need much juice added when he fights in Sin City, which means that so long as Cotto wins a headline-grabbing type of victory over Margo, the less-than-stellar numbers now projected for the fight will only help De La Hoya’s already strong position at the bargaining table.↵

↵↵One man who it’s safe to say is definitely laughing loud and hearty about this news is Money May. Floyd has been routinely skewered in the boxing community for ducking Cotto over the last year or so, and his routine response has been along the lines of, “Why should I fight Cotto? He’s small-time and I’m the king. Tell him to call me when he gets big enough to call me.”↵

↵↵Awful as it is, we might just have no choice but to admit that Lil Money Millionaire was right on that one.↵

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