Brian Viloria was perceived as cannon fodder when he entered the ring against Giovanni Segura

Last weekend saw two underdogs overcome pound-for-pound rated opposition to shock and surprise viewers and commentators, and upset the natural order of odds-making and star grooming. Except, in 2011, it seems that plucky underdogs upsetting stars––and stars in the making––was the natural order of the sport.

Despite the accusations of “home cooking,” Washington D.C’s Lamont Peterson turned in the best performance of his career to take two alphabet titles from Bolton, UK’s Amir Khan. On the same night, in a different hemisphere, “Hawaiian Punch” Brian Viloria knocked out the rangy Giovanni Segura in the Philippines to continue a remarkable career rejuvenation.

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Before last Saturday, much had been made about the moral peril that many boxing fans would find themselves in by taking part in the Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito rematch. I say taking part because when a fight is imbued with as much ambiguity, nationalistic pride and genuine ill will as this one, the audience becomes an important part of the spectacle.

That audience took in the fight from the comfort of their homes and at local sports bars, on pay per view and via illegal online streams. Some couldn’t find a screen so they took in the details of the fight via he modern equivalent of old time fight radio broadcasts; twitter. A lucky 20,000 mostly-Newyorican crowd packed New York’s Madison Square Garden to see the fight in person. I personally extended a night out well beyond the limits of reason and took in a Japanese broadcast of the fight at 6am CET.

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Cotto (right) gained sweet revenge over Margarito with a tenth-round TKO victory

In a hotly anticipated grudge match, WBA Jr. middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto retained his belt against Antonio Margarito with a 10^th round TKO when the fight was stopped on the advice of the ringside doctor.

Cotto, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, boxed beautifully and patiently for nine full rounds, sticking and moving, backpedaling and turning Tijuana, Mexico’s Margarito with effective footwork.

Margarito was game throughout the fight, as he tried to repeat his performance in the pairing’s first fight and pin Cotto along the ropes, however Cotto’s skills had improved too much to fall into the same traps he did in 2008.

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If this weekend’s double-header of rematches had a theme it would be Justice vs. Redemption

If this weekend’s double-header of rematches had a theme it would be Justice vs. Redemption.

Both pairings feature fighters in search of justice for what they feel were unfair losses against opponents who seek to clear their names with definitive victories.

The Golden Child of Golden Boy, Abner Mares (22-0-1, 13 KOs) is the first fighter that the powerhouse promotional firm has led from professional debut to world title win. However, what should have been his crowning moment of glory, was instead shrouded in controversy as his IBF title win over Joseph King Kong Agbeko (28-3, 22 KOs) featured literally dozens of unpenalized low-blows.

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Which Joe Frazier should we remember?

There are two ways that fighters are remembered. The first is purely empirical and almost entirely the realm of hardcore boxing fans. Records are tabulated, titles are counted and the quality of opposition is calculated in hopes of quantifying a wholly subjective sport.

The second is through myth and lore. Boxing’s oral and written tradition is certainly the richest in sports, and as fighters fade farther and farther into memory, their legends tend to grow. As lore becomes collective memory, choices have to be made as to what roles fighters will play in the greater mythology of their era, and the death of a fighter can usually lead to a change in roles, or at least a reassessment of character.

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