National pride on the line

0 Comments | USA TODAY, July, 2008 | by J. Michael Falgoust

Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito is more than just a fight to determine the world's best welterweight Saturday (HBO Pay-Per-View, 9 p.m. ET).

It's about honor -- and country -- no matter how much both combatants attempt to shy away from the talk. "The great fights and the tradition, more than anything it's the way they fight each other," Margarito, from Tijuana, said of the rivalry through an interpreter. "Had they not made great fights, no one would care.

"I don't look at (Cotto) as a Puerto Rican. I look at him as another opponent."

Fighters from Puerto Rico (population 4 million) and Mexico (107 million) have met in at least 60 world title bouts, and both sides have dominated at times. Sixto Escobar was the island's first champion in 1936,...