When Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito clash at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night for their rematch everybody anticipates two never-say-die warriors declaring war, digging in to the darkest corners of their soul to find a way, any way, to win. However, Miguel Cotto is showing a slightly different side to his personality.

“We have personal lives. We have families. We have people who love us and who depend upon us,” Cotto said. “It’s ridiculous to say you’d die in the ring. My health is the most important thing in my life. I have kids and they depend upon me. The reason I’m doing this is my kids. It’s stupid to say you would be willing to die.”

That was in reference to opponent Antonio Margarito saying exactly that. And when Margarito (38-7, 27KO’s) says he’s willing to die in the ring you can’t help but believe him. We saw in his losing fight to Manny Pacquiao that he is willing to go through hell in order to defend his pride. Fighting with a broken eye socket that closed his eye entirely, Margarito still gave a good account of himself, eventually losing on points to the Filipino master. It was a true display of courage from the Tijuana fighter, and a clear message to everyone that he simply will not back down.

Of course nobody wants to see anyone permanently injured in a fight, this is just a sport, but it’s about attitude and desire. Does Cotto really have the hunger to go into what could turn out to be a long, grueling battle, with a man who must still give him nightmares following his crushing eleventh round TKO loss in their first fight? Cotto took such a horrific beating that night that it must still be somewhere in the back of his mind. Is he ready to go through that again?

Cotto (36-2, 29KO’s) of course has himself been a victim of Pacquiao. Losing in the twelfth round after sustaining heavy punishment in his only other career loss, he is certainly no stranger to long, hard fights, but from what he’s saying it has to be questioned whether he is ready to go through it all again. Margarito’s trainer Robert Garcia doesn’t think so.

“Cotto is a warrior, a great fighter,” Garcia said. “But to tell you the truth, when I saw what he said on HBO’s ‘Faceoff,’ when he talked about fighting nowhere else [but New York], he’s thinking like a businessman. He’s down to his last few big paydays. He’s thinking of his family, and his kids, and that’s the way a real person thinks. But I’m around fighters 24/7 and they’re different. They all know the risks of the job. They accept the risks as part of it.

“If you are a fireman and there is a burning building with people in it who need to be saved, you don’t stand outside and say, ‘I’m not going in because I have to think of my kids.’ It’s your job. You take the risk and go in, because that’s your job. As a fighter, you go into a dangerous situation, but you do everything possible to win, because that’s your job. You know what the risks are when you become a boxer, but you do it because it’s your job.”

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