Super Bowl of Boxing kicks off tonight on PPV…Here is my prediction.

By: Christopher Roche

When people think of tonight’s Antonio Margarito vs. Miguel Cotto super-bout, the word speed does not come to mind. However, tonight, speed will make all of the difference.

Margarito is somewhat of a plodder, who comes forward and throws hard shots. Margarito also thrives on intimidation, as he is one of the most avoided men in boxing.

Cotto, who will not be intimidated, was also once seen as a straight-ahead pressure fighter, and some mistakenly thought he was one-dimensional. However, in the final rounds against “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Cotto turned his game up another notch and showed the boxing world that he can box.

Cotto out jabbed and out hustled an extremely athletic, albeit somewhat diminished Mosley. While Cotto fought an aging Mosley, there is nobody on the boxing planet who predicted that Cotto would out box him. Yet, that is exactly what Cotto did down the stretch. Cotto danced on his toes and showed a terrific jab. And he showed another thing, speed.

Upon looking at Cotto’s record, one notices that he has been in with some of the fastest men in the sport. Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah and Mosley are all in boxing’s top-tier, in terms of pure speed, yet Cotto kept up with all of them, and he soundly defeated them. At no time did Cotto look like he was too slow or unathletic to get his punches off against those speedsters.

Margarito, for his part, looked very uneasy against Paul Williams, who assaulted him with one speedy combination after another. Margarito could not get his punches off, until the last two or three rounds, but by then, he was too far behind on points to catch up. Margarito looked slow against Williams.

Against Cotto, Margarito will not have to deal with a height and reach disadvantage, like he did against Williams, but Margarito will have to deal with another opponent who is much quicker.

Cotto, for his part, will throw many more power shots against Margarito, then Williams did. Cotto will commit more to his punches, and while he could leave himself open for a return shot, I think that Cotto’s experience against fast fighters will serve him well to avoid the brunt of Margarito’s shots.

Cotto might not dazzle Margarito tonight, but he will remain one step ahead of him, and Cotto will win the fight. Margarito will try in vain to catch Cotto with a big shot, but he will have trouble getting his punches to hit their mark, and Cotto will land enough to win a comfortable decision.