Gil Martinez comments on Miguel Cotto’s win over Antonio Margarito

Xtreme Couture trainer Gil Martinez might be best known for his work with Mixed Martial Artists but there’s no doubting the highly-respected striking coach also has a PhD in the sweet science as a long-time lover of boxing and general guru on the mitts.

Fighters.com recently caught up with Martinez to get his thoughts on the recent bout between 37-2 Miguel Cotto and 38-8 Antonio Margarito. The two light middleweights duked it out a little over a week ago in an action-packed affair ultimately seeing Cotto come away with a TKO win due to damage inflicted on Margarito’s troublesome eye.

The Magic Mitts of Martinez

“I thought Cotto looked really good,” Martinez began when asked about the fight. “The game plan they had was very good and he executed it perfectly. Sometimes he sat back and he got hit those times but you could he didn’t want to stand and trade with Margarito. Cotto was just faster and better technically though and he used that. He showed that he was the better boxer this past weekend.”

“Not to take anything away from Cotto but I would have liked to seen the fight pushed back to give Margarito enough time for his eye to heal,” Martinez added while referencing a previous situation that nearly kept him from receiving a license to fight again. “The punches he got hit with messed up his eye from his previous injury. Cotto was smart to attack the eye and it started to close in the fifth or sixth round and it’s hard to fight with one eye. I think it would have been a closer fight though if Margarito didn’t have the lingering injury.”

“Margarito has never been the type of person to talk about his opponents but I think he felt embarrassed from the accusations about the illegal wraps,” Martinez explained regarding the pre-fight trash-talk between the two before bringing in some personal insight on the situation in general. “I think he used it as a defense mechanism to throw it back at Cotto. I can’t say if the gloves were loaded in the first fight or not, but I will say that there is a huge possibility that Margarito didn’t know if the gloves were loaded. I’ve been wrapping hands for a long time and I’ve never had a coach ask me to see the pads I use because there’s a trust between us. I don’t think any coach gets asked about the wrap. So if there was something in the wraps, it’s possible that he didn’t know.”

“Also, it’s a totally different wrap for training and fighting, so if you feel a difference, it could be just that,” he continued. “You don’t go the extra mile to wrap during sparring because of the bigger gloves and head gear, but in a fight, you make sure you get the best wrap.”

“So in fairness to Margarito, I can’t put much blame on him if the gloves were loaded,” Martinez concluded. “Even though he looks like he could play a bad guy in a movie, everyone says that Margarito is a nice guy. 90% of fighters are nice people, although there are exceptions like Michael Bisping (in MMA).”

PHOTO CREDIT – GILMARTINEZBOXING.COM