All three judges at ringside gave Pacquiao the edge, including one judge giving him every round 120-108.  The scorecard here at ringside gave Margaritio one round. “It’s hard I really did my best to win the fight. He was strong and a very tough fighter,” commented Pacquiao. “I can’t believe that he was as strong as he was.”

Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KO’s) won his 12^th straight fight and admitted that Margarito, (38-7, 27KO’s) was strong enough to hurt him when he was in the ropes in the middle rounds. He motioned to referee Laurence Cole several times in the 11^th round to stop the fight as Margaritio’s face was battered and a bloody mess.

“There was no way I was going to quit,” commented three-time champion Margarito after the fight. “I’m a Mexican. We fight until the end,” he said.

It was the second straight win for Pacquiao at Cowboys Stadium before a crowd of 41,734, many Margarito supporters.  Earlier this year, in March, he easily handled Joshua Clottey taking a 12-round unanimous decision, a seventh title and the welterweight championship.

As for a potential showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at 154, a fight that has been anticipated and talked about, again Pacquiao left that answer to his promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank. As for continuing his career, Mayweather or not, Pacquiao would not rule it out of the question.

The popular Congressman of the Philippines said, “I have another job after this. I’m going back to the Philippines to do my job as a public servant.”

“He was really fast and I was going- good until I got cut,” said Margarito.  His trainer Robert Garrcia also said he never considered stopping the fight and it would continue until the end. Garcia also saw first hand as to why Pacquiao is indeed the best pound-for-pound fighter.

Said Garcia “Manny is the best fighter in the world.  He is just too fast, Very, very quick.”

By the 10th round it became a boxing clinic for Pacquiao who continued to throw the right hook and pound the face of Margarito.  In between rounds it became obvious that Margarito was fighting for redemption, proving that his year suspension from the ring from using illegal hand wraps was all in the books.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

There may have been more interest coming from the various fights in the crowd. Supporters of Khan and Malignaggi went at it before the two fighters entered the ring Watching Khan, though take center stage for the first time on American soil took away the distractions from those who paid admission to stage their own fight.

So when referee Steve Smoger halted the bout at 1:25 of round 11.there was relief. Not because the fans would finally stop their war of words and trading of unauthorized throwing of fists.  There was that sense of relief coming from all corners. If the fight continued, the battered Malignaggi may have been seriously hurt.

The 23-year old Khan, (23-1, 17 KO’s) retained his lightweight championship with speed and power. He easily won all but one round, possibly losing the fourth. All three judges gave Khan every round prior to the stoppage, and at the end of round four the left eye of Malinaggi needed attention in the corner.

“No disrespect to Paulie,” said the 140-pound champion who plans on unifying the division. “Paulie is a great awkward fighter   I knew the last few rounds I was hurting him.  I used my speed and power and my jab. Me and Freddie worked on it,” he said about trainer Freddie Roach.

Of course no disrespect to Malignaggi, (27-4, 5KO’S) a slugger. The round before the stoppage he pleaded with ringside physician Ostric King to continue when the doctor wanted to stop the fight. He fractured his jaw a few years ago against Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden and went to war with the tough Ricky Hatton.

There was a harsh war of words coming from Malignaggi during the week leading to the fight. The hometown hero, from Brooklyn New York, and Khan almost traded fists during the weigh- in a day before the fight.

But it was no match for Khan who proved he can be a marketable commodity in the states. Afterwards, his promoter, Richard Schafer of Golden Boy Promotions was talking about Khan highlighting a card at the Garden in November. Khan has the supporters and could sell out the Garden main arena.

Future opponents could be undefeated champions Timothy Bradley or Devon Alexander. Mandatory challenger Marcus Maidana is also on the list as a potential next opponent.  Either fight for Khan would be a good match, and marketable for the Garden or another venue in the United States.

But you hear Khan, and where he would prefer his next fight to be held. ”I want to go home and fight in July,” he said referring to his hometown fans in the UK. “After that I want to fight all the big names. I want Maidina, Bradley, and Alexander. Bring them all on.”

Trainer Freddie Roach has no preference either. He has groomed Khan to adjust for any opponent, similar to what he does with his welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. “He controlled the fight with the jab.” said Roach. “That was the key factor. It worked all night. We had a very good game plan and he stuck with it. I told him to finish him and he did it.” eHe controlled the fight with the jab,”

And for Malignaggi, there may be no other options. His promoter, Lou DiBella would like to see his fighter go home, hang up the gloves, possibly pursue a career as a television boxing analyst.  Malignaggi made over $450,000 for this fight and with the loss there are no other title opportunities coming his way.

It may no longer be “Magic Time” for Malignaggi in the ring and he could be a perfect guy behind the mike at ringside. In defeat there was the analysis. “He’s better than Ricky Hatton was,” said Malinaggi about Khan.

On the co main event Victor Ortiz (27-2-1, 21 KO’s)   the native of Ventura California  won a 10-round super lightweight unanimous decision over Nate Campbell (33-6-1,25KO’s),   Through four rounds it was a one- sided fight with Ortiz fighting inside and getting the best of Campbell.  At the end of the fifth it was Ortiz throwing punches in the ropes and Campbell failing to fight back

Coming off his win over Hector Akatore in February, Ortiz reiterated is plan to fight again soon, possibly on another Garden card that would feature Khan.  The story though was Ortiz taking it to Campbell in the fifth round. The two fighters had some words as they were throwing punches.

Said Ortiz, “He said to me, ‘you get me down you are going down with me.’”  That set the tone for what Ortiz wanted to do and that was trying to knock out Campbell. “My intention was to knock him out. He tried to use his experience against me. He’s very experienced,”

Also on the card, Brooklyn middleweight Danny Jacobs remained undefeated (20-0, 17 KO’s) stopping Juan Astorga (14-5-1, 9 KO’s) in the second round and won the NABF middleweight title..

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Now the 35-year old Martinez (45-2-2,23KO’s), a native of Buenos Aires Argentina, and residing now in Madrid Spain can call himself the WBC/WBO middleweight champion. There certainly were no cries for Argentina especially after the way Martinez fought his way to the title from the seventh round on

Pavlik (36-2, 30Ko’s) of Youngstown Ohio entered the ring once again at Convention Hall to a thunderous ovation, opposing Martinez the mandatory challenger, a heavy favorite to retain the title he won from Jermaine Taylor at the same venue almost two years ago. It was a pro Pavlik crowd as about 3,000 or more of the 6,700 in attendance once again traveled by car and bus from Youngstown to see their fighter defend against Martinez.

Martinez was expecting a 12-round fight, “A 12-round plan,” he said afterwards in the ring with a translator by his side. The cut from a Martinez punch appeared severe at first but Pavlik was able to get by. He briefly sent Martinez to the canvas in the seventh with a short right, appearing to be a slip, but Martinez quickly got up.

Then with Martinez clearly behind on points, he went to work in the ninth round and all three judges at ringside gave Martinez the last four rounds of the fight. The new champion was able to counter the right of Pavlik, and the cut got worse. Pavlik obviously was hindered and could do nothing, and at times it appeared the ringside doctors were going to stop the fight as the cut got worse.

“In the last third of the fight, in the eighth or ninth round he began touching me a lot,” commented Pavlik who required 12 stitches to close the wound. It was obvious that the complexion of the fight changed as Martinez made the comeback and landed solid punches to the face of Pavlik. Martinez would have a 112-51 edge of connecting punches in the final four rounds.

“I tried but it was very hard to come back after him,” said the dethroned champion who may or may not get a rematch with Martinez. “I couldn’t see out of my right eye after he cut it in the eighth or ninth round. I could not see his left,” added Pavlik.

And in the corner, Pavlik’s handlers did their best. But, they too also realized that the championship was suddenly slipping away. “After the eighth round, he just seemed like he gave it away,” said Pavlik trainer Jack Lowe. “We could not turn it around and I don’t know why,” he commented.

The anticipated fight for Pavlik against Paul Williams, previously scheduled and postponed, because of a staph infection on his left hand is now history.  He will go back home and weigh his options.  For Martinez, who has had bad success over the past few years because of decisions that went against him, there is more to come.

Martinez, who ironically is promoted by Lou Dibella could get Williams who he lost to back in December in what was a controversial unanimous decision.  Taylor, who lost the title to Pavlik was once promoted by Dibella, so in a way Dibella has another champion and gets his redemption.

For now though Martinez will savor the victory and celebrate his championship in Spain and of course in Argentina. “There is a lot of pride and emotion for me,” said Martinez who was wrought with emotion when the decision was announced.

“When the last bell rang I knew I was the new world champion,’ he said. Martinez could have been a successful soccer player but chose boxing because hr thought he would be more successful in the ring.  “Boxing gives you a chance to dream. You never stop to dream to be a world champion,” he said.

Indeed there will be no crying in Argentina when their new champion comes home to celebrate the victory.

ON THE UNDER CARD: Vincent Arroyo (10-1, 7 KO’s) a promising super lightweight from New York stopped the previously undefeated Jeremy Bryan (13-1, 6KO’s) of Paterson New Jersey. Referee Benjy Esteves put an end to the fight at 1:43 of the eighth round,

Mike Jones (21-0, 17 KO’s) the promising welterweight from Philadelphia stopped Hector Munoz (18-3-1,11KO’s) of Albuquerque New Mexico at 2:03 of round five and won the NABA and NABO Welterweight titles.

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The opening encounter was a four round junior welterweight clash between Christian Martinez (2-0, 2 KO’s) of New York City and Gabriel Morris of Toledo, Ohio (1-5-1). Referee David Fiields stopped the slaughter after 58 seconds of the first round after Morris had been knocked to the campus three times. The three knockdown rule gave Martinez had second TKO win, both at B.B. King’s.

Two Latino featherweights faced one another in the second bout. Luis”Orlanditio” DelValle (8-0, 6 KO’s) of Bayamon, Puerto Rico claimed the win over Noe Lopez, Jr. (5-5, 4 KO’s), a native of Sonora, Mexico after the end of the second round. The ringside physician, after checking on an of Santiago, Cuba. injury to the left hand of Lopez, advised the referee to halt the bout. Overjoyed fans chanted “Tito” after the close of action, Del Valle like  Martinez was very comfortable in the venue as it was his fourth pro fight at King’s.

Another local favorite Gabriel Bracero (8-0) of Sunset Park, Brooklyn followed the pattern of his past pro fights by gaining a victory but not stopping his opponent. The 28 year-old never fights far from home. All of his bouts took place in New York City. Bracero’s opponent, Carl McNickels (6-3, 6 KO’s) does not fear a challenge. He traveled to Manhattan from Gulfport, MS to face a New York City fighter, and has fought an undefeated boxer in his last four bouts. McNickels dropped to the canvas in the third, but opened a cut over the left eye of Bracero. The votes of the judges at the end of the six-round junior welterweight bout was one-sided, 60-53, 59-54, and 58-55.

Heavyweight Tor Hamer (10-0, 8 KO’s) is making an effort to move into the rankings and represented the United States in a weight class that had been dominated by Americans in the past. The Penn State graduate had no difficulty with Mazur Ali (6-5, 3 KO’s) of Egypt. After receiving a body shor to the stomach, Ali spit out his mouthpiece and leaned over the ropes. The referee stopped the bout at 1:38 of the opening round. Mazur was a late replacement for Dominic Jenkins. At the pre-fight physical examination, a fracture was discovered in Jenkins’s skull, and he was forbidden to box. Promoter DiBella was incensed by Ali’s ring demeanor. He said to reporters, “If you don’t want to fight, don’t come.”

The headline bout featured one of the most heralded amateur boxers in recent years, Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux (4-0, 3 KO’s) of Cuba. The 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games gold medalist for Cuba defected to the United States in the early part of 2009, after being taken off the Cuban National team prior to the 2008 Olympics. He has since begun a professional boxing career. The 29 year-old Cuban like Hamer was fighting a last minute replacement, Lante Addy (6-5-1, 4 KO’s) of Ghana. Addy’s record may look better than it is because his last five bouts were fought in the U.S. In all five of the bouts (four losses and a draw) his opponents were undefeated. Each of those five bouts, including the one on Wednesday went the distance. Rigondeaux floored Addy in the first round. Neither was again in trouble in a lackluster and one-sided encounter. The crowd jeered the lack of action in rounds two and four. Both were in excellent condition to last eight rounds. The score of the judges were: 79-72, 80-71, and 80-71.

Hopkins went to work Wednesday evening at the homecoming fight tabbed as “The Broad Street Brawl.” He last fought in his hometown in 2003 when he defended the middleweight title against Morrade Hakkar. Scores at ringside from the judges were 118-110, 120-109, and 119-109 that showed his dominance in getting his 50^th professional win. And afterwards, Hopkins claimed the fight with Jones can still be made.

“When they told me he lost, I asked ‘How did he lose,’” said Hopkins who will turn 45-years of age in seven weeks.  The former middleweight and light heavyweight champion fought Jones 17 years ago and was back in the ring after a 14-month hiatus after defeating middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik at 174 pounds.

The 29-year-old Ornales (29-6, 19 Ko’s) landed some good punches in the third round and was able to stay in there with Hopkins, but the former champion showed he can still take a punch avoiding a good right uppercut by Ornalis in the fourth round.

And in the sixth round, Hopkins briefly caught Ornalis with a good combination but he    was able to counter. But after the fourth round, Hopkins seemed to take control of the fight. He took the next three rounds by finding and using his right uppercut to his advantage.

“I blocked it out of my mind,” said Hopkins of the Jones result. To keep interest in another fight with Jones, Hopkins quickly defended Jones regarding the quick stoppage. “When you have someone like Roy Jones Jr, he deserves the benefit of the doubt,” he said. “He was fighting that guy in his hometown and I think they stopped the fight prematurely.”

Jones appeared to still be on his feet and never hit the canvas. “I think I can still fight him,” commented Hopkins about Jones. “He went out on his feet, not on his back. Let him defend himself or quit before you stop the fight.”

As for Ornalis, there was no reason for shame. He never went down and made it interesting at times. “I give him a lot of credit,” he said about Hopkins. “He’s one of the best. I know I was the underdog.  I wanted to show him just because I am smaller I wasn’t going to back up. I am really proud and I was here for the challenge,”

The question now is will the public buy a fight, a possible pay-per-view encounter of Hopkins against Jones?  Hopkins believes it can still happen, but a more intriguing possibility is Hopkins moving to the heavyweight division and challenging David Haye who was recently crowned the new WBA heavyweight champion.

WILLIAMS FACES MARTINEZ ON THE BOARDWALK:  HBO Sports salvaged the show Saturday evening at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City New Jersey and kept middleweight Paul Williams busy.  First it was supposed to be against middleweight champion Kelly Palvik for the title.

But Palvik a month ago had to be pulled because of a continuing staph infection on his right hand. In stepped New York based promoter Lou DiBella and he worked a deal with Goosen Tutor Promotions who handles Williams.  It will be Sergio Martinez (44-1) of Argentina, a DiBella fighter facing Williams, 12-rounds, on the HBO card Saturday evening

Williams, perhaps the most talented fighter in the middleweight division, will have a tough test,. He could have moved a bit up in weight and been a part of the “Super Six” Middleweight tournament that Showtime is televising.  Pavlik is still on the agenda and a win against Martinez could still make that fight happen.

The co-main event features the Mexican Cristobal Arreola facing Brian Minto. It will be Arreola’s first fight since losing to WBC heavyweight title against Vitali Klitschko. The HBO telecast begins at 9pm.

NEW YORK WLCOMES BACK FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMP LOPEZ:  Madison Square Garden, in the adjacent WaMu Theatre will once again will welcome WBO junior featherweight champion Juan Manuel Lopez on January 23, 2010 on an HBO televised “Boxing After Dark” telecast that will also feature WBA featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa of Cuba.

Lopez and Gamboa will once again be showing their skills in separate title bouts. The hope is if both fighters prevail, Top Rank, promoters of the card will put the two in the ring at the Garden in June. The most likely date would be on the eve of the National Puerto Rican Parade in mid June. That is a date that former WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto always had.

But Cotto, resting in Puerto Rico is talking about retirement sometime next year after losing to Manny Pacquiao last month in what was the most anticipated fight of the year. “Cotto has made his money and is looking at two more fights and then leaving the ring,” said Ricardo Jimenez of Top Rank at the Lopez-Gamboa Garden press conference Thursday afternoon.

Lopez (27-0, 24 KO’s) from Caguas Puerto Rico has defended his title five times, four by knockout but had a hard time getting the tough 12-round decision at the Garden back in October against Rogers Mtagwa.  He will oppose WBO Featherweight champion Steven Luevano (37-1-1, 15 KO’s) of La Puente California.  Mtagwa (26-13, 2, 18KO’s) a top ten featherweight takes on the 16-0 undefeated Gamboa in the co main event, a 12-round fight for the title.

“I am not looking ahead,” commented Lopez when asked about an eventual fight with Gamboa.   He commented that his last fight in New York against Mtagwa was harder than expected. “I have to do better,” he said.  “I love fighting at the Garden. I come to fight all the time.”  And that means doing his part and possibly setting up the eventual fight with Gamboa.

Throwing the punches: Top Rank promote Bob Arum had a legitimate reason and a good one to not be at his press conference in New York Thursday, He was busy in the Philipinnes and successful getting his welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao to agree and fight Floyd Mayweather Jr, for the title.

Earlier this week, Mayweather, who will also be a promoter of the fight, dispatched Golden Boy Promoter Richard Schaffer to meet Arum and Mayweather agreed. So the Oscar De La Hoya Golden Boy outfit will also be involved in the fight one way or the other.

The date set is March 13 on HBO pay-per-view and could set the all-time boxing PPV record, also becoming a fight more anticipated and coming with more hype than the recent Pacquiao-Cotto championship bout.  What remains is who gets what, with Mayweather obviously looking to get the better deal.

The other obstacle is where the fight will take place.  New York is out of the picture. Madison Square Garden and Yankee Stadium in the Bronx are not possible venues as promoters refuse to deal with the ridiculous tax structure that promoters and HBO will have to deal with.

There has been talk about the new stadium in Dallas where the football Cowboys play, but a leading source at Tip Rank said Thursday that the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, site of the Pacquiao-Cotto fight is the leading contender to play host. Vegas offers the free rooms and meals, has plenty of accommodations, and the Nevada tax structure is so much easier to work with.

The difference is not having this fight in New York will give promoters, the pay-per-view affiliates, fighters and trainers 50 percent more of the revenue that would otherwise go to the stingy and corrupt New York State government tax system. ..

Maybe because it is close to an end of the year thing but on the ridiculous side because boxing kills itself by events of the past week with the amount of press conferences, teleconference media calls, and fights.  Two press conferences in New York this week, the Hopkins fight in Philadelphia, another show in Manhattan Thursday night, and the Williams fight in Atlantic City Saturday,

The promoters earlier this year formed an alliance and said they would get on the same page.  Yeah, not for the boxing fan and the media who cover this stuff. Because we either have nothing or too much,

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But Lopez, (27-0, 24 KO’s) had his problems with Rogers Mtagwa (26-13, 3, 18KO’s) that had Top Rank promoter Bob Arum wondering, “I thought Lopez fought a stupid fight,” he said.  “He can’t fight a stupid fight against Gamboa. If he fights like that against Gamboa he’s done.”

And with those words, Arum may have been saying that Lopez has to take another fight before facing Gamboa in what could be a mega fight in the featherweight division with Lopez going up in weight .to 126. Gamboa, earlier did his job in disposing Whyber Garcia (22-7, 15KO’s) of Panama in the fourth round.

Mtagwa, ranked 15^th by the WBO, a relatively unknown fighter, took the last three rounds on two of three ringside cards of the judges, who scored it 115-111 and 116-111 for Lopez. Kevin Morgan gave Mtagwa the last six rounds though gave Lopez a 114-113 edge in the 12-round bout.

Lopez got the decision by winning the first part of the fight, but he took some punishment and was left staggering between the ropes in the 11^th round and if it weren’t for the ropes, Lopez would have went down.  In what could be classified as a fight of the year, the intensity of the fight continued in the 12^th and final round. Lopez continued to take punches and had nothing left as Mtagwa went for the knockout he didn’t get

The outcome was disappointing for Mtagwa who definitely made a name for himself. “Yeah, I won the fight,” he said.  “The first round I was really tired  He is not as strong as they say He gives good shots.. Yeah it was very close fight,” he said.  “Yeah I want a rematch.  I don’t believe I lost the fight.”

But that return bout may not occur immediately. Arum wants to put Lopez and Gamboa together, but first Lopez may have a date on HBO on January 23^rd in Puerto Rico. It will be Lopez against junior featherweight title holder Celestino Caballero or featherweight champions Steven Lueveno or Elio Rojas if purse arrangements can be made.

“Lopez has to fight a smarter fight than he fought,” claimed Arum who almost saw that eventual showdown with Gamboa go down the drain by the way his champion fought. “He let himself become vulnerable. He showed a lot of heart though.”  The stat of the night though was Mtagwa having a distinct edge in power shots landed, 62-34, in the last two rounds.

Lopez, who knocked down Mtagwa briefly in the first round realized it was going to be a tough evening after that.  “That guy was very strong,” he said through interpreter Ricardo Jimenez.  “I tried hitting him but he is a very strong guy. He added “Sometimes it is very difficult to fight guys like this. They have nothing to lose… He is a strong guy even in the last round he was coming after me.”

Lopez is in the second year of his title reign after dethroning defending champion Daniel Ponce De Leon via a first round knockout last June. He has successfully defended his title four times since, all by knockout and is billed to be the next exciting fighter out of Puerto Rico, of course next to WBO welterweight champion Cotto.  .

Gomboa remained undefeated (16-0, 14K0’S) easily dominating WBA 13^th ranked Whyber Garcia (22-7 15 KO’s) of Panama City Panama. Garcia had won four of his last five fights. The loss was for the world title against WBA super featherweight champion Jorge Linares last year.

Garcia could not match the punches of Gamboa which included a barrage of left and rights in round four.  The stoppage came at 0:58 of the round when referee Steve Smoga stepped in and stopped the bout.

“It’s one of my strategies to study the fighter and settle in,” said Gamboa who used that strategy well from the opening bell in round one. As for Garcia not coming into him, a type of fight that Gamboa likes to fight, he stated, “I definitely like when men come into me. It is better for my counter punches,”

The early stoppage showed what type of fighter Gamboa is. His punches were effective and strong which prevented Garcia from throwing anything strong at Gamboa. “At the end of the second round I knew I was going to knock him out quick,” he said.

The anticipated fight though would be for Lopez to unify the title .against Lopez, a fight that could happen early next year. “A lot of people ask me the same question I want to prove what is best for me,” responded Gamboa when asked about an opportunity to meet Lopez.

“I didn’t think Lopez is better than me,” he said. “I don’t need a warm up fight. I am ready for him. I expect to get better than this.  But winning by knockout at the Garden there is nothing like it.  I should be carrying the card over Lopez because I’m better.”

During the week Gamboa commented about making his debut at the Garden. He said winning the fight convincingly is what was needed to be done in order to accomplish the goal of meeting Lopez soon. And just being in The Garden meant he achieved his goals.

He commented about leaving his country and pursuing his goal of becoming a world champion. “It was a big risk for me to leave and take the stuff that I took, leaving not only the boxing team but my country. It goes on to prove that if I seat a goal I can accomplish it.”

On the under card John Duddy (27-1, 17KO’s) made a successful return to The Garden and got the unanimous decision over Jorge Munoz (21-4, 13KO’s) of Topeka, Kansas. Duddy at times let his opponent come at him and was able to use counter punches and scored points with the judges.

In a 10-round heavyweight bout the veteran, 38-year old Monte Barrett (34-8, 24KO’s) of Queens, New York became an easy victim of undefeated Cuban sensation Odlanier Solis (15-0, 11KO’s.)  Solis pounded Barrett early and put Barrett on the canvas with a quick left hook in the second round .and got the TKO.

And welterweight Omar Chaez, the son of former legendary champion Julio Cesar Chavez remained undefeated (18-0-1 13 KO’s) getting the six-round unanimous decision over (7-10-1) James Ventry.

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Though one question was answered, as it seems Cotto, (34-1, 27KO’s) has overcome his loss to Antonio Margarito last year that left him battered after 11 rounds/ It was a rough fight from the beginning, as expected, with the only knockdown coming from a Cotto punch late in the first round.

Clottey, (35,3, 21 KO’s) who gave Cotto the cut in the third round, attributed to a head butt, may have indeed been the winner if it weren’t for that 10-8 first round that went to Cotto  that caused Clottey to briefly hit the canvas.. And the final two rounds went to Cotto with one judge at ringside having 114-113 for Clottey, two others 115-112 and 116-111 for Cotto. This writer gave the fight to Clottey 114-113.

After the nasty cut continued to pour blood from the left eye, Cotto had to resort to another strategy. He continued to punch well, landing 723 punches to the 622 of Clottey, but the challenger in the ropes many times was able to take the punishment and land a few power punches of his own.

It was the onslaught of punches from Cotto that continued to show how resilient of a fighter Clottey is.  The native of Ghana, now residing in the Bronx, also had to overcome a pro Cotto crowd at the Garden. Most of the 17,734 were Cotto fans waving the Puerto Rican flag, screaming for their fighter throughout the fight, though this was the first time a Cotto fight at the Garden failed to sell out.

And if Top Rank promoter Bob Arum hadn’t consoled Clottey immediately after the fight, then perhaps this could have been the last fight for Clottey. Disappointed and annoyed about the final decision Clottey immediately said, “That’s it, I’m done with boxing, I can’t take it anymore.”

To which Arum, who promotes both Clottey and Cotto, embraced Clottey and said to him, “a magnificent fight and you have to continue.”  By all means Clottey deserves a return bout, and after listening to Arum and getting over the disappointment, Cottey asked for one.

But Clottey may have to wait as Arum is looking to put Cotto in the ring next, possibly with Manny Pacquio considered the best pound-for pound fighter at 147.  Said Clottey, “They robbed me. He was running and I was chasing. I threw the hardest punches.”

Hand it to Cotto though, because after the cut he fought like a champion.. Even in the ninth and tenth rounds the cut got worse, of which Cotto said, “The cut made me fight harder but I felt like that I was winning all the way”

But there were some tactics from Cotto that haven’t been seen. Perhaps his new trainer, Joe Santiago, who replaced Cotto’s uncle Evangelista, was a reason why Cotto in the fifth round was a different fighter. In the corner with Clottey he spun his opponent around and Clottey, fell face first on the canvas.

The result was some time for Clottey to recover after hurting his right knee but he was able to recover by continuing to fight at his pace. “The referee had to do something,” said Clottey who also complained that Cotto used low blows many times, also Cotto hit Clottey in the back of his head late in the fight which also got no warning from referee Arthur Mercante Jr.

Now Arum has to look at the future for Cotto.  The Pacquiao fight is what he would like to do and Cotto will evaluate the options.  There is also a possible return bout with WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley, and Cotto, from what has been often heard would like that chance again against Margarito..

But Margarito is still serving a one-year suspension for fighting with tainted hand wraps under his gloves which now appears to have been responsible for Cotto’s only loss. “I will see what the company says,” was the response from Cotto about getting Margarito again.

Clottey deserves a return bout and it may have to wait, and his courageous effort showed he is indeed one of the top three welterweights.  As for Cotto,: who admitted that Clottey was a tough opponent, it is time for some rest and maybe some readjustments with his new trainer and without cut man Miguel Diaz who he also dismissed.

“We made a few mistakes,” admitted Cotto who may still have to prove that he is in the company of other great Puerto Rican boxing champions such as Wilfredo Gomez and Felix Trinidad.  “Everybody will get better,” he said.

CALDERON GETS A DRAW: The co-feature on the Garden card saw junior flyweight champion Ivan Calderon (32-0-1, 6KO’s) of Guaynabo Puerto Rico earn a split decision of his 12-round fight that went to the judges scorecard after six rounds because of an accidental head butt. Challenger and opponent Rodel Mayol (25-3, 1, 19KO’s) of the Philippines caused the nasty cut on the forehead of Calderon.

As a result of the fight being halted after six rounds the technical rule of the championship bout becomes a decision for the judges. One judge had it even, one for Calderon and the other to Mayol and as a result Calderon retained his title.

“I was coming in and he would go down low and that’s when I got hit in the head,” said Calderon/. The butt came in the fourth round and another one moments later. It was the fourth defense of his title.

e-mail Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com