Antonio Margarito’s Eye Injury
It has finally been confirmed that Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto will meet for the Super Welterweight WBA World Championship at Madison Square Garden in New York on the 3rd of December 2011. It was long believed that this match would never take place due to the injuries sustained by Margarito in his fight last year against Manny Pacquiao. During this fight, Margarito sustained terrible injuries to his eye. In fact, his right optical bone was fractured and an eye muscle was trapped. This is something that should be remedied immediately, but as the swelling on his face was so severe, he had to wait three days before the surgery could take place.
Due to health concerns, Margarito has had to undergo many medical check-ups on his eye before finally being granted a license to fight Cotto on the 3rd of December. He claims that these check-ups are routine and that there is nothing to worry about, but many people fear that his ability to box is actually severely impaired. In fact, right after the injury occurred, it was widely believed that his boxing career was effectively over. Even Margarito stated that he felt he had reached the end of his career.
Following the surgery to release the muscle, he needed further surgery to repair a cataract in his eye. This procedure took place only around three months ago and the cataract was a direct result of his previous injury. Cataracts can, of course, lead to blindness. Generally, when cataracts first start to appear, they can cause near sightedness – or myopia – as well as causing the inability to see the color blue. Cataracts caused by trauma, as is the case with Margarito, can either be with an intact capsule or with capsular rupture. In this case, lens material leaks and requires emergency surgery, whereby the lens needs to be removed. There is some suggestion that this is what happened and that the surgery he had some three months ago was actually to remove the lens and replace it with an artificial one.
In order for Margarito’s license for the fight to be approved, the doctor who performed the surgery on his eye was asked for information and advice and Margarito also had to have an examination by an independent eye specialist. This was all incredibly tense, because promotion of the event had already started even though the license had not been granted yet. Should Margarito then have been told that he was not fit to fight, HBO would have lost a serious amount of money. This does mean, of course, that some people now claim that the medical examination is somewhat of a fix and that there never was any real question about Margarito being declared competent for the match itself.
One of the controversies is that Margarito has basically been given the go ahead, but that an examination into his eye was suddenly requested, after promotion of the event had started. This makes some people believe that it is all a great publicity stunt, raising interest in the match and thereby increasing revenue for the owners. Others, on the other hand, fear that it may mean that Margarito’s eye is causing him serious difficulties and that this is coming to light now that he is training and sparring in preparation for the big fight.
Whatever the truth is – a publicity stunt, increased problems or simple precautions – it is of course a hot topic. Margarito has now been given his license and the fight is definitely on. Watch Cotto vs Margarito and see if the Mexican can save his eye!
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