Mike vs. Tony

We're one day away from Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito, and the atmosphere in Torreón, Coahuila is electric. Honestly, there's a lot of excitement about the fight here, which is weird because Margarito isn't terribly well known here, and Cotto isn't Mexican. I reiterate my belief that Cotto will find a way to win, but I am nervous about a couple of factors. One, Cotto's chin, which will be tested more than it ever has. Two, Margarito usually overwhelms smaller fighters. Three, almost everybody is picking Cotto, which seems like a bad omen given that the fight is basically a toss-up (regardless of what Vegas says). All of that notwithstanding, Cotto has shown that he can go 12 barn-burning rounds without tiring, he has improved immensely over the last two years, his chin looks better at 147, and he moves far more adroitly in the ring than Margarito. I think he'll throw a lot of different looks at Margarito, frustrating him en route to a competitive but clear decision win. The fight could end up resembling the second Leonard-Duran bout, in that the tougher guy doesn't get hurt so much as thrown completely off of his game by the better athlete. I also think it could look a lot like King Kong's fight with the Tyrannosaurs in King Kong.

Gancho prognostications is 5-3 on the year.