Dinner’s on Ryan
posted by Large
Just layed down my action. I got Margartio by KO/TKO with 7/2 odds and Margs in the 10th & 11th at 28/1 – Ryan
Ryan, son, I hope you’re going to be investing in a couple of No Mas shirts with your recent windfall, just, you know, to share the love.
Seriously, though, congratulations to our sterling commenter and current star prognosticator, No Mas Ryan. The man had a startlingly clear vision of how this fight was going to go and he nailed it. A couple of our other regulars were right on it as well, the always quiet and humble Rooster among them.
Honestly, to be rather quiet and humble about the matter myself, even I kind of nailed it, despite the fact that I went the other way in the prognosticating. I admit that I seriously started to doubt myself when I wrote my Wednesday thoughts post and realized that I truly didn’t believe Cotto could win a toe-to-toe war with Tony, and therefore was going to have to fight the whole thing on his bike to come out on top. For five and a half rounds, it looked like he was going to do exactly that and pitch a shutout doing it. But the Reaper came a-callin’.
Anyway, look, I’m writing this in my room at the Luxor while Mrs. Large packs up our stuff behind me in the new “Cotto/Margarito: The Battle” t-shirt that I picked her up last night (the official fight shirts were kind of ill – check out the man’s version on the right there). But I’m proud of how prescient many of our comments about the fight were this week, so I’m going to list a few below, followed by some Large photos from fight night (the best I got was that photo of the victorious and ominous Reaper himself up top there after the post-fight presser). I’ll have my full breakdown up tomorrow.
When I watch Tony fight he looks so damn slow. Yet, what he has is MOFO heavy hands. He will hit your arms and anywhere his punches will land…in sum, the guy has that unexplainable strength. It is like Tim Brown…looked slow as hell with those black cleats but he was a fast guy…not on the clock but on the field. , Rooster
Ironically, I really think that Margarito’s best chance in the fight is the strong possibility that Cotto finds it too easy in the earlygoing, because then he might get overconfident and start to reach for the muleta, at which point the Mexican bull could sneak a horn in his side and then it’s game on. – Large
Tony is gonna drag him into a war by the middle rounds, and then I think the same uppercut that Judah hurt him with… is gonna catch Cotto. Margarito throws it often, and always in combination. That, and the fact that I’ve NEVER seen Margarito in trouble. , Ryan
I think this fight is going to be ever so slightly less pleasing skillwise than the Mosley fight, but considerably more so thrillwise. I see a fight with a few different fights-within-the-fight a la Leonard/Hearns. I think Margo is going to eat more big shots than he ever has in his career and I can see him having trouble finding a rhythm early and going down on points. Then I can imagine Cotto getting greedy and leaving himself open to that uppercut or liver-shot that queers him for a round or so and allows Tony to start feeling nice in there and even the playing field. And suddenly the hunter is the hunted. -Large
July 27th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Damn. I’m infinitely envious that you were there in person, Large. I can’t imagine how sick the atmosphere was ringside.
It’s nights like this that just show, when it’s at its best, no sport compares to boxing. Both guys were amazing.
And yeah, it was a good night financially, and should there ever be a No Mas gathering…well, drinks are on me. (I’m already the proud owner of a certain Chief & Chong T). I’d like to say that I was certain in my prediction all week, but you had me damn near swayed by Saturday morning Large. This site is the balls because of the conversation here, and it’s another reason why I’m totally cool w/ boxing being an outside-the-mainstream sport. I could give a fuck less about Yanks-Sox and the followers of said teams, but I’ll talk boxing w/ a diehard all day.
As for our gladiators last night? Holy shit. What else is there to say? You were absolutely right about Cotto being able to showcase his boxing skills, and the fact that he’d be able to counter Tony all night. His standing doesn’t dimish in my eyes one iota. Oh, and the line about this one being slightly less pleasing skillwise, but more so thrillwise than the Mosley fight? Yeah, exactly.
And Antonio…man, I’m just happy for the dude. That fight epitomized his whole career, and he deserves his moment. Big things ahead for homeboy.
Anyway, props to the No Mas Land. Everyone around here always makes the buildup and analysis of boxing almost as fun as watching the shit go down.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
I think the next question is, who the hell has the balls to step in the ring with Margo now?? looked like you could hit the dude with a truck last night and he wouldn’t flinch..
Anyway thanks for all of the commentary on this, it certainly made the fight a better spectacle than otherwise.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
First, thank you for such great coverage of the fight. I’m not sure what to say. Some of the ever insightful Rooster on his thoughts.
1. About the 5th round I started to press the panic button. I had so much riding on this fight that I lost my lunch a few times before the fight on nerves.
2. I, too, like Ryan, started to get a bit scared about Cotto after some of the points you pointed out in your pre-fight write-ups. I was like, what if Cotto took his boxing to another level like he had the previous three fights.
3. Being ring side maybe you can tell me your take…I watched the fight three times and no where did I see Tony land a shot and I was like…WOW! Now, I did see Cotto hit Tony with some shots where I was like…Dear God, how does his head stay on.
4. Where does Margarito and Cotto go from here? Obviously I don’t see a rematch happening.
5. I looked for you in the stands but didn’t see you.
6. Can Cotto come back from a defeat like this?
7. I thought HBO didn’t have to show the sequence of Cotto taking such shots after the fight in slow-motion and showing his family crying…no need for that what so ever.
8. I was humbled but the will of these two men.
9. Does Floyd come out of retirement for Margarito.
10. Was Cotto’s nose broken?
In closing, continued success Large. Honestly, I think that a No Mas gathering should take place at the next big fight. I’m not sure if it will be on the East Coast of Vegas but you can pencil me in. Once again, thanks for all the time and effort you put into this fight. I am sure it was a joy but to show you how much I appreciate…I’m going to purchase a No Mas shirt and I encourage everyone else to also if you want continued success here at No Mas.
The Rooster has spoken.
July 27th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Great, great coverage Large!
July 27th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Wow Ryan. Congratulations on pegging a close, major fight about as accurately as a fight can be pegged. Going back through all your comments from this past week was borderline chilling.
And yeah, excellent job running the point as always Large, even while pulling serious double-duty throughout (triple-duty I suppose when a pregnant Missus is running along too).
July 28th, 2008 at 1:39 am
props to ryan indeed…as u saw…after ryan talked about playing margo in 10th & 11th….i followed suit….also played 3-6 for margo….and despite playing cottos as the winner….i still turned a profit…as far a floyd/margo fight? well no matter what happened saturday i would hold floyd as a fav over cotto and woulda bet floyd….and still would over margo….floyd would be wayyyy too quick for margo and would not go to the ropes….he would keep it in the middle of the ring as long as possible n get his asics on….easy work for money
July 28th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Does Margo have the juice to lure Money out of retirement? I think the only way that happens is if they’re able to build buzz around a Margo-Cotto rematch. Arum says they did good PPV numbers…but then again, Arum’s a dick.
July 28th, 2008 at 7:48 am
First… I want to say thanks to everyone who posts on this site (esp. Large with the dope pre-fight commentary). You took me from a casual fan to somebody who wants to know everything I can about this sport. The promoters can thank you too ’cause once I couldn’t find anybody who was getting the fight I just bought it and had my neighbor come over. No way i was missing this.
Next… @ Joaquin Ochoa – question 3. I think the punch that really wowed me was right before or right after the first knockdown (I have to watch the fight again) when Margo wrecked Cotto’ ribs. We saw him work Cotto’s body all night and even when Cotto blocked a punch you could see the toll it took on Cotto’s arms, but there was a body shot that Cotto took and had to be done.
Last… Large, I’m looking forward to reading more today, keep up the good work.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Congrats to Ryan – it’s not often someone calls a big fight so accurately. Props to you. Hey Large, do I get credit for a post on your Sporting Blog in April?
emhoffk | Tuesday, April 15, 2008, 3:10 pm
Styles make fights. Margarito seems to only lose to slick southpaws – (e.g., Paul Williams, Daniel Santos, Rodney Jones). Mind you Josh Clottey gave him hell – but Margarito outlasted him. Cotto would be a damn fool not to box him but I have yet to see him box for an entire 12 rounds. He mixes things up but definitely likes to slug as much as he likes to box. Cotto likes to flurry and then take a little walk and rest. Margarito puts constant pressure on and I’m sure he’ll train to not let Cotto get those little breaks he likes. The fact that Margarito has such a pronounced height and reach advantage (Cotto is 5’7 to Tony’s 5’11) really makes Margarito into Cotto’s worst nightmare. This one is going to be a great fight. I expect Margarito to give Cotto an even tougher fight than Mosley did. I see a real possibility for an upset.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
The best outcome of the fight is that now it feels like anything can happen. If Cotto wins it’s just another night but now the wondering and anticipation are in effect in a big way. The funny thing is that it doesn’t change Margo’s status as the fighter nobody wants to step in with. Also remember that Daniel Santos has a belt now, sweetening the pot if Margo goes up in weight. I watched their second fight and for the record Margo was winning and buckled Santos’ knees before the stoppage in which Santos got a hometown decision.
I completely agree with Ryan that its okay that the mainstream doesn’t get it. We keep having nights like saturday and if they don’t wanna know forget em. Let them eat cake!
Keep up the great work my man!
July 31st, 2008 at 8:40 am
So….did I miss the replay on HBO or what? Have they not replayed it yet? What up?
It was impossible for me to catch this fight last Saturday and it really, really bugs me.
July 31st, 2008 at 11:13 am
When I say “impossible” I mean I was working….OK? I couldn’t call in sick or dead…I HAD TO WORK!
In fact, for days I avoided all sports news completely and threatened to kill friends who let the winner’s name accidentally slip while in my presence. I did all this so that I could enjoy watching the fight as it was meant to be watched…in all it’s high blood pressure inducing glory….on HBO!
Of course, I broke down and peeked at No Mas yesterday.
Anyhoo….where’s the fucking replay?
July 31st, 2008 at 4:53 pm
HBO has not run the replay yet, Clervis. They’ll run it this Saturday night before the Zab/Clottey fight. If you want to see it before then, you might try grabbing the torrent at the World Boxing Video Archive.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:27 am
OK. Thanks Large.