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"We're asking the sparring partners to throw more left hooks, which is the punch they're going to look for to try to land on that eye. So, you know, left hooks. So I'm asking the sparring partners to throw more left hooks," Robert Garcia, Margarito's trainer.
"As you can see, we keep training like it's nothing. My eye is in perfect condition. It's fine. If it wasn't in perfect condition, believe me, I wouldn't fight," Margarito.
"No matter what, I'm preparing myself to beat Margarito's a--. He played with my health. He can play every day with his [own health,]" Cotto on Margarito.
"I saw Mr. Margarito today. We did an extensive examination and I found that he is suitable to fight. His eye has had some serious injuries, but they've been well-repaired. I think that the commission has every basis for issuing him a license in the state of New York based on the current regulations and his fitness to fight," Dr. Kenneth Rosenthal, President of New York's Intraocular Implant Society.
"I remember that during that fight, I forgot that I had my three kids next to me. I've been through a lot in life, a lot of suffering. But nothing could ever compare to watching Miguel destroyed the way that he was, bleeding like never before. Like never before. I can tell you, it's really a fight that scarred us. Really difficult," Cotto's wife, Melissa, on being ringside for Cotto-Margarito I.
"To see Margarito...anger. It fills me with anger, because he played with the life of my husband," Melissa Cotto on the possibility of the use of illegal wraps by Margarito.
"Yesterday Mr. Margarito underwent testing here in Manhattan, and today, we heard testimony from Dr. Michael Goldstein. All of us on the commission have very carefully evaluated Dr. Goldstein's findings, and his testimony that it is his opinion that the condition of Mr. Margarito's eye is such that he is fit to be in the ring. The commission ruled that Mr. Margarito's petition for lencensure in New York is granted," Edwin Torres, New York State Athletic Commissioner.
"This whole process has been so inconsistant and so unpredictable and it's turned in so many different ways, I didn't know what to expect. We always felt that science was on our side, and, you know, the evidence was on our side. And we just wanted to be heard. And we were afraid that we weren't being heard," Top Rank Inc. President Todd duBoef, after the NYSAC cleared Margarito to fight.
"I don't feel any respect for him, you know? And I'm going to take advantage of his eye like he took advantage of the plaster," Cotto on Margarito.
"F--k Cotto. If they think that I had plaster, it will hurt like I was using plaster. And he will know it," Margarito on Cotto.
Photo by Chris Cozzone, Fightwire Images.
Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com
