We had play by play coverage of the EXC show, but didn’t have live coverage of the Cotto vs. Margarito fight. But we do have some thoughts afterward. Here’s the aftermath.

Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito

Duan

Show overall rating: Thumbs way up

This was easily my favourite fight this weekend; a great performance from both men. Margarito was absolutely relentless. He took everything Cotto had in his stride and continued to press the action. It was really dramatic watching as he clawed his way back into the fight, after Cotto established a big lead early on. I had the fight pretty even going in to the 11th round, where the knockout took place. Cotto started showing signs of disillusionment from the 7th round, and it became a matter of whether or not he could ride out the last few rounds and sneak the decision. By the 11th round it was evident that he just had nothing left to give. His corner made the right decision to pull him from the fight at that point. It could be a tough loss for Cotto to rebound from, as he was defeated both mentally and physically.

EXC – Lawler vs. Smith II

GG

Show overall rating: Thumbs up

Best Fight: Shayna Baszler vs. Cristiane Cyborg
Worst Fight: Rafael Feijao vs. Travis Galbraith

Though I don’t think the guys in charge at EXC truly understand what this company needs or even has, they still put on a good show. It was good in an underwhelming way. The fights were technically good and fun. There were a couple of match-ups that played out perfectly (Nick Diaz and Cyborg winning), but it’s like, there’s no excitement around the things that are handed to them. The Diaz win should set up a fight with KJ Noons as it looks like there’s legit bad blood there. Some proper build up would make a must see fight. Also, why is there no match-up for Kimbo yet? What are these guys waiting for? You have two money matches in Diaz vs. Noons, and Carano vs. Cyborg, and whoever Kimbo will fight will be interesting. Yet I walked away feeling excited for nothing because I’m not sure any of what I’m interested in seeing will even happen. But if I’m scoring on the show, it was a fine show.

Duan

Show overall rating: Thumbs up

Best Fight: Nick Diaz vs. Thomas Denny
Worst Fight: Wilson Reis vs. Bryan Caraway

I found this to be a really enjoyable show, particularly the CBS portion of the card.

All the fights were of a good standard, although none were particularly memorable. I feel that this card did a really good job of showcasing some of EXC’s top stars in front of the CBS audience. Cyborg, Shields, Diaz and Lawler all looked really good. There should definitely be money in a Cyborg vs. Carano fight now. They could have done more to hype up the upcoming Diaz vs. Noons rematch, especially considering how much of a star Diaz looked to be in front of his home town crowd. I had really high expectations for the Lawler vs. Smith match. It was a good fight, but it never caught fire in the same way their first fight did. I think I would narrowly favour Diaz vs. Denny to it, as fight of the night. All in all, it was a very solid show.

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