It is not HBO or Showtime that granted King an opportunity to televise four championship fights, part of 11 fights to be held Saturday November 5^th from the Seminole Hard Rock & Casino in Hollywood Florida. The feature bout will be WBA cruiserweight champion Guillermo Jones defending his title against 14^th ranked Mike Marrone.

King made an indirect reference to HBO and Showtime the two major broadcast networks of the sport. They would not give him an opportunity to showcase Jones or Joey Hernandez the United States Boxing Organization Junior middleweight champion. He made references to the past and how Wealth TV will provide an opportunity for people across the nation to see fights like they did on ABC, CBS and NBC, the major networks that televised free boxing when King was on top of the business.

Not to say that Don King is history. He is still visible but does not have the major fighters that promotions like Top Rank and Golden Boy have to offer for the networks. He wants to see boxing return to the glory days, the old school theory of putting boxing on free television. It means more for King now to see the sport thrive again.

“The downward spiral,” said King about the sport, as he held court with media before introducing Robert and Charles Herring, a father and son who launched their network in 2004. King was referring to the ineffective people running the sport and how fans have been turned off with the recent and bizarre outcomes of major fights seen on pay-per-view and the networks.

There were references by King regarding how he had to advocate and get a return bout for his fighter, bantamweight Joseph Agbeko, who will get the opportunity against Abner Mares on December 3^rd. And he cited how boxing has been embarrassed with the recent outcomes of the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz and Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson title fights.

“Yesterday, today, tomorrow,” is what King said will be the theme of the telecast on a network available to over 100 cable systems across the country.  The promoter, who now does most of his business in the state of Florida, said the Wealth televised card is a celebration for the people. The President of Panama is expected to attend, as well as legendary boxing champions Larry Holmes and Roberto Duran.

“A celebration for Roberto Duran and celebrate the birthday of Larry Holmes,” he said. It was vintage Don King as he waved the flags of different countries, said, “Viva Puerto Rico,” referring to one of his greatest champions, Felix Trinidad, and he of course provided his views on the economy and opportunity. It was Don King smiling, playing to the cameras, and bringing back memories of the old days.

And this will be a venture for Wealth TV. They admit this is an opportunity to expand their base.  Boxing to the premier lifestyle and entertainment network may be a risk. They invested an undisclosed amount of money and days ago made the deal with King, but the 70-year old Herring, a boxing fan said, “It nicely fits into the programming vision of WealthTV.”

More televised boxing cards, by the network if successful could mean a revival for King. He said, “Return boxing back to the masses, to the fans and not pay-per-view.”

It is technology incorporated into the old school theory that Don King is attempting to do. And it was convincing enough to convince Herring that boxing needs something different, another shot for King and a new way to present boxing to fans. The availability of viewing the telecast on Verizon FIOS TV and AT&T U-verse will also enable boxing fans to see the telecast on their phones and I-Pads.

King has always been an innovator with the sport and this year reunited and co-promoted a card with a former adversary, fellow Hall of Famer Bob Arum of Top Rank. This is his latest deal that could work, and with the technology available by the network, to say the least, old school could work with the new school.

And as much as Don King has been criticized over the years, a boxing fan will always recall the heyday of King being the dominating promoter, his success with Ali, Frazier, Norton and the “Thriller in Manila.” He made references to that in a small room at the Phillippe restaurant in New York City.  “All the champions are now in foreign countries,” he said. “They have escaped the country. The networks did it. You want to see fair play. Let us have a coalition for truth,” making reference to how HBO and Showtime would not make a deal for Jones, a legitimate champion with a 37-3-2 record along with 29 KO’s.

So this could work, and King did offer a WBA championship fight to his new network. “Give the people an opportunity in the land of opportunity,” he said about Jones not getting his chance on the major networks ,and thanking Herring for the chance to put his promotion back on a network.

“Go back to pride, dignity, and glory,” he continued, advocating for a national boxing commission, if done properly. No, it won’t hurt to have Don King visible again. A little more of old school boxing and a new network can’t harm the sport.

email Rich Mancuso: Ring786@aol.com

Game after game down the stretch, something would go wrong, usually in the last few minutes. Chances to score fell just short of realization or inattention to defensive duties let an opponent pull out a win or a tie. Coach Ben Olsen has an inexperienced squad and is himself still learning.

It showed all season as the team gradually gained better shape and style, only to slide into ineffectiveness toward the end.

The coach took most of the burden on himself, but was sanguine about future prospects, “It was a pretty good performance overall. We know what we need; I know what we need for next year. But it’s not as much as you guys think. I still have a lot of confidence in this group of players.”

The players have always shown the most obvious signs of Olsen’s influence; they play with grit and persistence. Their failures have been not with heart, but with smarts. Experience brings wisdom, and neither the coach nor the players are quite yet where they need to be.

A winter of reflection and study by players and coaches combined with the acquisition of a few key pieces that Olsen has his eye on should justify the coach’s optimism. Olsen has always been more cerebral than he lets on, but his knowledge built up over years will take time to communicate.

This year he has struggled with the actual teaching techniques, when and exactly how to structure practices to create a shape to fit both his team’s and the opponent’s strengths and weaknesses.

We saw a hint of his thinking on Saturday as he sent out an unusual formation as described by Tino Quaranta, “We changed our formation tonight which was encouraging I think for not working on it. Call it 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, whatever you want to call it. I think the guys responded well. We created chances.”

Stephen King, who got to ply his trade in central midfield, liked the idea, “I think it was good. I think it was something worth trying. Maybe going into next season we’ll work on it in preseason and see if that’s the direction we want to go….

“Playing against a team that does clog the middle a little bit and plays with 3 central midfielders we thought that we could counter their formation with what we did….We definitely noticed that there was a lot of space out wide especially when we’d switch the ball quickly to Andy or Austin or Tino early on….It’s something we looked to do.”

Austin Da Luz agreed, “I think with a little more time we can be successful with that formation. We’ll see what happens. At the end of the day it does make for a more exciting game. It opens up a little bit more and it can be a good thing.”

On the flip side of the argument, Kansas City’s coach, Peter Vermes cited the downside if the formation drifts too much in the 4-5-1 direction, “I think it was a little hard for [Dwayne De Rosario] because he was a man on an island tonight playing as one up top.”

In theory, the wide midfielders should alternately either draw coverage from the center or go poorly marked, with advantages flowing from either development. Both responses increase space for an attacking side to exploit.

DC United is one of the shorter and less physical sides in MLS, explaining a major weakness that was on display Saturday when Sporting Kansas City scored the game winner. Set pieces require at least some size to defend and also to attack.

Interestingly, one of United’s most anticipated improvements for next year will feature the slim, gritty, and clever Perry Kitchen. His skills in the defensive midfield position are such that he is expected to be one of the best in the league as he grows into the role. Yet, he indicates that he has no intention of spending the winter putting on pounds of muscle.

He believes that enough international stars at the position are built like him that he is best off going with his natural skill set. He may well be right, and if so, Olsen would do well to look for a large strong central defender to join the also slim Dejan Jakovic in the back line.

Scoring Summary:

KC — Matt Besler 2 (unassisted) 54

Sporting KC — Jimmy Nielsen, Chance Myers, Aurelien Collin, Matt Besler, Seth Sinovic, Kei Kamara, Roger Espinoza (Davy Arnaud 46), Graham Zusi, Julio Cesar, Omar Bravo, Teal Bunbury (C.J. Sapong 68).
Substitutes Not Used: Michael Harrington, Lawrence Olum, Jeferson, Soony Saad, Eric Kronberg.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb, Ethan White, Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard (Marc Burch 46), Andy Najar, Perry Kitchen, Clyde Simms (Austin Da Luz 17), Stephen King (Josh Wolff 75), Dwayne De Rosario, Santino Quaranta.
Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Charlie Davies, Joseph Ngwenya, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:
KC — Roger Espinoza (caution; Tactical Foul) 26
DC — Perry Kitchen (caution; Reckless Tackle) 34

Referee: Alex Prus
Referee’s Assistants: -Eric Proctor; Corey Parker
4th Official: Mark Kadlecik
Time of Game: 1:49
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-56-degrees

“It’s funny; it was basically my pre-game speech. Let’s go down swinging; let’s show the people that we are completely committed out there and we’ll need to push it to the limit to get this result,” said United Head Coach Ben Oslen.

United will now miss the playoffs for a club-record fourth consecutive year.

Dwayne De Rosario, with his right ankle heavily taped and noticeably limping after being kicked in the first half, scored his league leading 16th goal of the season for a brilliant equalizer in the 73rd minute after Kenny Cooper had given the Timber the lead with an easy header in the 24th minute.

“It was disheartening. It is but it isn’t in the sense that we showed some fight,” De Rosario said. “Yeah it was basically both teams having chances at the end. We definitely had some great opportunities, and if we had a little more hunger and a little more fight, we finish those chances. Those are things we really need how to learn – to commit to that final ball and get your body behind it.”

After taking a good ball from Josh Wolff, De Rosario drifted to left side of the penalty area, took a turn and beat former United goalkeeper Troy Perkins with a definitive strike to the near post.

“If Dwayne De Rosario doesn’t get MVP of the League there’s something wrong. Plain and simple,” said Timbers coach John Spencer, who coached De Rosario during his time as an assistant in Houston. “For the last three months of the season since he came here he’s been the best player in the League by far – a country mile. He needs to win MVP.”

United thought they had what would surely have been a season saving goal in the 89th minute but Blake Brettschneider header was disallowed when he was correctly ruled to be in an offside position. Perkins came out to play the original shot and ended up going past Brettschneider thus leaving just one defender as the cross was played in.

Cooper’s goal was much simpler, as he slipped between McDonald and Ethan White to nod home an equally simple but perfect cross from another former United player, Rodney Wallace, from the left flank.

Regardless of the implications, the game was apparently destined to be played in wet conditions. The match was originally scheduled for August 25 but was postponed due to Hurricane Irene and on this day, a steady rain all day drenched the Washington metropolitan area but stopped shortly before kickoff.

Despite United’s comprehensive attacking posture with De Rosario playing behind Josh Wolff and Charlie Davies, neither team managed to create more than a half chance through the first 20 plus minutes with one exception. McDonald rifled a header just over the bar off a Santino Quaranta corner kick that disturbed the netting enough to cause an unfounded roar from the home crowd in the 10th minute.

Andy Najar made a strong run with his usual touch of flair down the left flank in the 34th minute, but his right footed shot targeted for the near post from inside the penalty area was not equal to the quality of the run.

Quaranta had an even better opportunity in the 42nd minute but that also went awry. After a strong cut back dribble around Lovel Palmer at the top left corner of the penalty area, his left footed attempt across the face of the goal somehow bounced over the extended foot of a charging Wolff and then skidded just wide of the far post.

But the real drama and thrills did not come until after the break.

“It was a bit of a blur those last 20-30 minutes, and the whole second half,” said Oslen. “But I am extremely proud of the guys tonight – I can’t believe nobody scored down that stretch. The amount of chances that were going on was pretty remarkable. I have to look at it, but it seems that we had the better ones. It just wasn’t our night. Troy [Perkins] came off with a couple of saves, and they did well to put their bodies in front of us on some and we didn’t do well with some finishes as well.”

Knowing it needed a goal quickly in the second half, United formulated significant stretches of coordinated attack but could not find the final idea or execute the final ball to get through Portland’s solid defensive structure.

When White’s lay off for De Rosario in the penalty area was woefully off the mark, the Timbers counter nearly produced the sure clincher in the 60th minute but Kalif Alhassan’s late-contested whistler from the top of the box went just wide of the right post.

Shortly thereafter, hobbling or not, De Rosario muscled his way around a much bigger Mamadou Danso but as another defender closed down the space, he got bumped and fell to the turf but not enough for referee Jair Marrufo to point to the penalty spot.

“It felt like a schoolyard game at the end,” said Quaranta. “Every time we got the ball going forward I felt like it was going to be a chance to score.”

Portland thought they had the go ahead goal just seconds later but Brian Umony’s attempt from close range hit under the crossbar and came straight down but clearly did not cross the goal line.

Umony scampered into the penalty area uncontested seconds later but Bill Hamid came up with a tremendous save to keep United’s hopes alive in the 85th minute. Hamid made an even better reflex save a minute later to deny Bright Dike who fired from with in a crowd but straight away from 14-yards.

In extra time, De Rosario beat Perkins to a bouncing ball but his shot toward the open net was blocked by an alert Eric Brunner.

De Rosario sent another ball across the face of the goal seconds later that Joseph Ngwenya got onto but his foot was clipped by a Portland defender and the weakened result was knocked away by Perkins and Blake Brettschneider’s desperate follow up was blocked.

United will conclude this year’s efforts against conference co-leader Sporting Kansas City on Saturday.

Scoring Summary:
POR — Kenny Cooper 8 (Rodney Wallace 2) 24
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 16 (Josh Wolff 7) 73

Portland Timbers — Troy Perkins, Lovel Palmer, Eric Brunner, Mamadou Danso, Rodney Wallace (Mike Chabala 79), Eric Alexander (Brian Umony 63), Jack Jewsbury, Diego Chara, James Marcelin, Kalif Alhassan, Kenny Cooper (Bright Dike 84).

Substitutes Not Used: David Horst, Jorge Perlaza, Steve Purdy, Jake Gleeson.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb, Ethan White (Joseph Ngwenya 89), Brandon McDonald, Daniel Woolard (Austin Da Luz 71), Andy Najar, Perry Kitchen, Santino Quaranta, Charlie Davies (Blake Brettschneider 51), Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Wolff.

Substitutes Not Used: Stephen King, Kurt Morsink, Clyde Simms, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:
DC — Brandon McDonald (caution; Tactical Foul) 58
POR — Bright Dike (caution; Reckless Foul) 85
DC — Austin Da Luz (caution; Reckless Foul) 90

Referee: Jair Marrufo
Referee’s Assistants: -C.J. Morgante; Frank Anderson
4th Official: Jose Carlos Rivero
Time of Game: 1:50
Weather: Rain-and-68-degrees
Attendance: 14,317

In July, there were a couple of games when the team could be described as bereft of ideas. While players usually moved effectively to support teammates on defense, there were too few runs off the ball on attack.

Then things improved as coach Ben Olsen gradually brought his team along to a point in early September where they were making such runs for one another, not only in defense, but also in possession and on attack.

Somehow, that fluidity went away and United’s play and results have suffered greatly.

Perhaps fatigue played a part as United had two spurts of crowded play. Olsen pointed out that, “Flying back from Vancouver after a tough loss, I thought there were some heavy guys out there to push through it. The game plan was to grind it out, and we did it.”

However, the Fire were also tired and thus fatigue combined with mutual decisions to contest midfield aggressively, causing play naturally to become narrowed. Both teams played hard, but both also played unwisely.

Dwayne DeRosario, a hard working and clever player was hard on his teammates, “It’s frustrating because you want to see that commitment, you want to see that passion and desire to win every ball – to do whatever it takes to stop a shot or block a ball to stop a play – but that isn’t the case and I don’t see that right now.”

His viewpoint reflected mostly on Chicago’s exceptional defensive efforts. In a most unusual statistic, DC United took 13 shots of which 8 were deflected by Fire defenders almost immediately. Only the penalty kick was on goal

In contrast, the Fire had no shots deflected. Their errors were normally wide, high, or saved. They were not particularly worthy of the points they obtained either. Only incisive play at the very end redeemed their poor shooting earlier.

Team qualities, fatigue, and coaches’ recognition of both meant it would be a grinding game.

Olsen’s comment reflected that, “I thought they put a lot of numbers in the midfield – it’s a lot of work in there. That’s why we put some of the guys in early, to deal with that. We had to push the game and I thought we put the right guys in to get the game changed. I think everything worked out, except the last couple of minutes.”

The game opened with a few long forays by both sides and then deteriorated into narrow contests over possession. Width of play was lacking for the first twelve minutes. Then the Fire’s Marco Pappa started to exploit the space on Chicago’s right wing. His DC United counterpart, Austin Da Luz’ responded well, also playing wide.

Sadly, the good shape lasted for about another twelve minutes until both teams lapsed into a shortsighted, narrow style again. The emphasis on control distorted intelligent play and worsened the fatigue factor.

The surest way to save energy is to let the ball do the work. Certainly, pressing the ball is necessary and will concentrate players. Still, once one has possession it is far easier to let the ball do the work by making or finding space with wide play and insightful supporting runs into that space.

Late game fatigue leads to lapses in concentration and Olsen is certain to emphasize the need to maintain focus throughout United’s last two games on Wednesday and Saturday. In Vancouver, United gave up a goal in the first minute. At home, they lost focus late. Neither lapse is excusable in a professional team.

While players must accept responsibility for their own efforts and decision making, it is the role of the coaching staff to set them up for success. In the next few days, Olsen and company must somehow return the team to the intelligent play they had so recently displayed.

With two consecutive wins, a novel idea this year, and a Red Bull loss, United may yet see the post-season action they have thus far not merited.

Scoring:
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 15 (penalty kick) 90
CHI — Sebastian Grazzini 5 (Gonzalo Segares 4) 92+
CHI — Diego Chaves 5 (Gonzalo Segares 5, Orr Barouch 2) 94+

Lineups:

Chicago Fire — Sean Johnson, Michael Videira (Yamith Cuesta 19), Josip Mikulic, Jalil Anibaba, Gonzalo Segares, Logan Pause, Sebastian Grazzini, Daniel Paladini (Diego Chaves 89), Marco Pappa, Patrick Nyarko, Dominic Oduro (Orr Barouch 73). Substitutes Not Used: Corben Bone, Baggio Husidic, Pari Pantazopoulos, Jon Conway.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Chris Korb, Brandon McDonald, Perry Kitchen, Daniel Woolard, Andy Najar, Stephen King (Marc Burch 75), Clyde Simms, Austin Da Luz (Santino Quaranta 57), Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Wolff (Charlie Davies 79). Substitutes Not Used: Blake Brettschneider, Joseph Ngwenya, Ethan White, Joe Willis.

Misconduct:
CHI — Josip Mikulic (caution; Reckless Foul) 46
DC — Andy Najar (caution; Reckless Foul) 76
CHI — Orr Barouch (caution; Dissent) 78

Referee: Jorge Gonzalez
Referee’s Assistants: Greg Barkey, Matthew Kreitzer
4th Official: Terry Vaughn

Attendance: 16,548
Time of Game: 1:52
Weather: Clear and 66 degrees

That’s all there is to do at this point and what exacerbates the situation is that winning still doesn’t guarantee you anything after all of the point squandering that was done earlier in the season.

“I’m tired of looking at the standings and what we need and what other teams need; we need to win now. It’s pretty simple,” said United Coach Ben Olsen.

United (9-10-11, 38 points) are currently 6th in the Eastern Conference with four games remaining and two games in hand on every team ahead of them. They travel to Vancouver for a late Wednesday game then return home to face Chicago on Saturday, who stand just a point behind United.

United are likely to take on Vancouver without the league’s leading scorer, Dwayne DeRosario (14 goals), who may not be fit for play after a hectic travel schedule with the Canadian National Team. Central defender Dejan Jakovic (R hamstring strain) is listed as questionable but is “hopeful” according to Olsen and may be healthy enough for consideration by game time.

After squandering points on a regular basis throughout the season, especially at home, United have no one but themselves to blame for this predicament. Whether it’s giving away leads and settling for draws, a league wide problem not exclusive to just United, or just diabolical mental breakdowns, they have been pushed to a state of singular focus.

On a positive note, they have had a nice break to get healthy, clear their heads after two divergent loses on the road and to get ready for these last four matches.

They crawled back to level before halftime after conceding two early tallies to Philadelphia before failing to hold on for what would have been a worthy point. United took the lead late in the first half two days later at Columbus before conceding two, including an unlucky own goal for the equalizer, to drop another winnable game.

“I don’t look at those two games as bad efforts. We made some mistakes and down the stretch when you tend to make mistakes, you get punished. I’m not disappointed in the effort overall but we need results now so in one way we know what we have to do now and that’s a good thing,” Olsen said.

Regardless of the results, at some point these mistakes have to go away or unfocused may be just who they are this season.

“Ties on the road are good,” said Josh Wolff. “Ties at home are not so good… When you get to this point in the season it would be nice to be in before these games start but like I said to a lot of the guys you are not in the playoffs until you are in and you are not out until you are out. We lost our way a bit in two games on the road where we were in position to get some points and we let them go.”

Young or old, tired or spry, that doesn’t matter at this point either. “Throughout some of these games we lose our focus and our concentration and it’s not just one play. A play may lead to a goal but it’s usually a compilation of many things,” added Wolff.

“You keep pressing and try to make the points that need to be made with the entire group; it’s the group being able to assess it and make more plays that are there to be made. The last game we didn’t do that and we need to and we got punished for it.”

United still have the youngest starting XI in the league but that excuse, though perhaps still viable, is irrelevant as well. “I don’t think they know any better but these playoffs are not easy to make,” Santino Quaranta said about the team’s young players.

“We haven’t been in the playoffs in a couple of years so you try and stress to them that getting there is not easy and it’s been a long year and you try and reward yourself with something.”

Finally, the finer points of technical and tactical soccer are for another day and time as well. It’s all about making plays and the plays that win games. “It’s not technical; we’ve been through all that stuff. You know what you have to do. It comes down to one-on-one battles and more mental stuff for us, like can we see a game out,” Quaranta said.

“This has been our problem this year; 1-0 against Columbus…we should probably see that game out. Guys are getting real uptight and I am getting more uptight; you are thinking more about every play, every situation instead of playing on instincts and playing free.”

“The thing with Margarito was 2008 the chapter that was closed in that book,” commented Cotto about the first fight in July 2008. That is a night that saw Cotto with a battered face, dethroned of the WBA welterweight title in the 11^th round. The result was talk about Cotto being done, that he no longer had it. Cotto would rebound later, and Margarito, after winning the title from Shane Mosely, would eventually see his boxing license suspended for using tainted hand wraps under his gloves.

So a lot transpired since their first encounter. Both fighters went to war with Manny Pacquiao and  Cotto, quietly had been seeking this rematch for revenge. He leaves business to the promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank and in the last year made it known that Margarito is what he wanted, and at Madison Square Garden his favorite venue where he is undefeated in six fights.

Though Cotto does admit he did have flaws in that first fight and will make no excuses or accusations that Margarito had tainted hand wraps then. But for the first time he showed writers a picture on his cell phone that was given to him earlier this year. It indicated a tear in the wrapped hands of Margarito. There was evidence of a tear with the tape and gauze. Again this was pure speculation by Cotto and he will not make accusations. However, the facts later on make one to believe that Margarito had an unfair advantage, even if Cotto that night was not at his best.

Margarito remains silent about the hand wrap controversy except when he is asked. “I never used any illegal bandages. I can’t change the opinions of everyone. I always fought clean. He claims to have paid his dues and the subject is a thing of the past.  He is also promoted by Arum and never went against his Mexican fighter when it came to the hand wrap issue. A win this time would put everything in perspective. He takes care of business in New York and Antonio Margarito indeed has the number of Miguel Cotto. Though the early line favorite is Cotto gets a commanding win and vengeance for what happened a few years ago in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Arena.

“I accept my defeat like a man,” says Cotto about that uneventful evening in Las Vegas. “It’s the first time I show the pictures to anybody,” referring to the Margarito wraps. “I over trained and won’t make the same mistakes again. I will be watching the first fight again soon to see what I did wrong.” He did not have the veteran Emanuel Steward in his corner then and he will once again have him for the third time in his corner at the Garden.

Steward was able to correct some flaws when he worked with Cotto the first time in June of 2010 at Yankee Stadium, a Cotto 9^th round TKO and defense of the WBA title over Yuri Foreman.

“He is sharp and will be ready at 154,” said Steward when reached for comment because was preparing Andy Lee for his rematch with Brian Vera. “Nothing will go wrong. We will watch the wraps and the gloves. Miguel has picked it up and learned what went wrong the first time.”

And with vengeance obviously on his mind, though Cotto will never show a vindictive trait, Margarito could see the same approach that was used in March. Ricardo Mayorga, saw enough punishment before being stopped by TKO in the 12^th round in the WBA super world light middleweight title fight. Cotto was aggressive and finally put Mayorga on the mat in that final round. It was vintage Cotto, punching with authority, and throwing combinations that propelled him to be a three division world champion.

“I’m going to give it all my body and soul to make this a great match,” said Cotto, (36-2-28 KO’s) one of those in the loss column coming to Pacquiao. He reiterated, ”It’s going to be the same as last time but the ending will be different.” Meaning of course, the punishment this time will show on the face of Margarito who is fully recovered from an injured eye socket that occurred when he lost to Pacquiao last November.

Cotto insisted also that the fight be at 153.  Margarito says that is unfair and that Cotto should be at 154. “If he is a real champion he should fight at 154,” says Margaritio. And Cotto would later respond that the weight was not an issue. His win over Margarito will tell the story that the first loss was because Margarito was with the advantage, once again briefly making reference to the hand wrap controversy.

“Boxing is a sport when you use your skills,” said Cotto. “He played with my health and that’s not fair.”  The wraps for both fighters will be placed in a suitcase prior to the fight and inspected by the New York Commission at the weigh-in. So there could be an end to the issue about Antonio Margarito and hand wraps that have tarnished his career.

Arum stated the Garden has a record advance gate for the fight with an undercard that also includes the undefeated Mike Jones, another of the rising stars in the welterweight division and junior welterweight Pawel Wolak.  And Cotto always sells out the Garden with a strong contingent of Puerto Rican fans from New York City.

But this is not about Puerto Rico against Mexico. It is the fight that Cotto wanted and he anticipates the coming months of training, saying he is a much more matured fighter with his new team under the direction of Steward.

“We accepted 153 because we don’t want Antonio Margarito to make any excuses,” says Cotto. Indeed this looks like it could be another chapter though this time a different and better one for Miguel Cotto.

“The thing with Margarito was 2008 the chapter that was closed in that book,” commented Cotto about the first fight in July 2008. That is a night that saw Cotto with a battered face, dethroned of the WBA welterweight title in the 11^th round. The result was talk about Cotto being done, that he no longer had it. Cotto would rebound later, and Margarito, after winning the title from Shane Mosely, would eventually see his boxing license suspended for using tainted hand wraps under his gloves.

So a lot transpired since their first encounter. Both fighters went to war with Manny Pacquiao and  Cotto, quietly had been seeking this rematch for revenge. He leaves business to the promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank and in the last year made it known that Margarito is what he wanted, and at Madison Square Garden his favorite venue where he is undefeated in six fights.

Though Cotto does admit he did have flaws in that first fight and will make no excuses or accusations that Margarito had tainted hand wraps then. But for the first time he showed writers a picture on his cell phone that was given to him earlier this year. It indicated a tear in the wrapped hands of Margarito. There was evidence of a tear with the tape and gauze. Again this was pure speculation by Cotto and he will not make accusations. However, the facts later on make one to believe that Margarito had an unfair advantage, even if Cotto that night was not at his best.

Margarito remains silent about the hand wrap controversy except when he is asked. “I never used any illegal bandages. I can’t change the opinions of everyone. I always fought clean. He claims to have paid his dues and the subject is a thing of the past.  He is also promoted by Arum and never went against his Mexican fighter when it came to the hand wrap issue. A win this time would put everything in perspective. He takes care of business in New York and Antonio Margarito indeed has the number of Miguel Cotto. Though the early line favorite is Cotto gets a commanding win and vengeance for what happened a few years ago in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Arena.

“I accept my defeat like a man,” says Cotto about that uneventful evening in Las Vegas. “It’s the first time I show the pictures to anybody,” referring to the Margarito wraps. “I over trained and won’t make the same mistakes again. I will be watching the first fight again soon to see what I did wrong.” He did not have the veteran Emanuel Steward in his corner then and he will once again have him for the third time in his corner at the Garden.

Steward was able to correct some flaws when he worked with Cotto the first time in June of 2010 at Yankee Stadium, a Cotto 9^th round TKO and defense of the WBA title over Yuri Foreman.

“He is sharp and will be ready at 154,” said Steward when reached for comment because was preparing Andy Lee for his rematch with Brian Vera. “Nothing will go wrong. We will watch the wraps and the gloves. Miguel has picked it up and learned what went wrong the first time.”

And with vengeance obviously on his mind, though Cotto will never show a vindictive trait, Margarito could see the same approach that was used in March. Ricardo Mayorga, saw enough punishment before being stopped by TKO in the 12^th round in the WBA super world light middleweight title fight. Cotto was aggressive and finally put Mayorga on the mat in that final round. It was vintage Cotto, punching with authority, and throwing combinations that propelled him to be a three division world champion.

“I’m going to give it all my body and soul to make this a great match,” said Cotto, (36-2-28 KO’s) one of those in the loss column coming to Pacquiao. He reiterated, ”It’s going to be the same as last time but the ending will be different.” Meaning of course, the punishment this time will show on the face of Margarito who is fully recovered from an injured eye socket that occurred when he lost to Pacquiao last November.

Cotto insisted also that the fight be at 153.  Margarito says that is unfair and that Cotto should be at 154. “If he is a real champion he should fight at 154,” says Margaritio. And Cotto would later respond that the weight was not an issue. His win over Margarito will tell the story that the first loss was because Margarito was with the advantage, once again briefly making reference to the hand wrap controversy.

“Boxing is a sport when you use your skills,” said Cotto. “He played with my health and that’s not fair.”  The wraps for both fighters will be placed in a suitcase prior to the fight and inspected by the New York Commission at the weigh-in. So there could be an end to the issue about Antonio Margarito and hand wraps that have tarnished his career.

Arum stated the Garden has a record advance gate for the fight with an undercard that also includes the undefeated Mike Jones, another of the rising stars in the welterweight division and junior welterweight Pawel Wolak.  And Cotto always sells out the Garden with a strong contingent of Puerto Rican fans from New York City.

But this is not about Puerto Rico against Mexico. It is the fight that Cotto wanted and he anticipates the coming months of training, saying he is a much more matured fighter with his new team under the direction of Steward.

“We accepted 153 because we don’t want Antonio Margarito to make any excuses,” says Cotto. Indeed this looks like it could be another chapter though this time a different and better one for Miguel Cotto.

Granted, the spectacular hat trick from Dwayne DeRosario, which set a new MLS record at 31 minutes for earliest completion of the feat, was a masterpiece of individual effort, but the real story was how he was set up to succeed.

The Canadian emphasized the contribution of those around him, “I can’t speak more highly about the performance all around from the guys. I think collectively, as a unit, it was first class, from Bill right up to the forwards.”

DC United and Real Salt Lake have a history of playing possession soccer. Often that results in a grinding fight in midfield. In this particular game, both teams came out with the same idea, play compactly to thwart midfield linkups and flip the ball over the top or slip it through openings to get behind the defense.

DeRosario credits the strategy for both Najar’s goal off his finely threaded through ball and his own header off Najar’s perfectly placed lob. “Most importantly, we kept our shape and that’s what Ben wanted us to do.” He later added, “We stuck to the game plan, stayed compact.”

There is an adage in soccer that says, “Front to back, play compact; side to side, keep it wide.” Although most often adhering to the rule, both teams sometimes reverted to half-width play, leaving space down the sides which was almost never exploited by Salt Lake and more often put to use by United.

Veteran and captain, Josh Wolff seconded DeRosario’s praise of the overall team effort, “We’re not a one man show although DeRo takes a lot of the credit tonight…It comes back to the discipline of how we approach things.”

He elaborated on playing a compact style front to back and featuring over the top balls, “It’s indicative of the guys you have out there.”

When a team has players like Najar, Marc Burch, or Santino Quaranta who can place long balls onto attackers’ heads or feet, opponents can more easily be bypassed when front to back distance is shortened. “They (RSL) do a good job of closing space like we talk about in our group, keeping the space between forwards and the backs to 35 yards.”

A shortened midfield negated one of Salt Lake’s most potent weapons, Kyle Beckerman, who never seemed to have enough room to dominate play as he has so often in the past. Conditions were a bit unusual for both teams and, “I think we responded better…Andy’s ball to DeRo was amazing and obviously DeRo’s to Andy was as well”, was how Wolff summed it up.

Former DC United coach, Peter Nowak will surely study the films of this game and it will be interesting to see whether he chooses to play the compact game on Thursday or finds another way to open up play to put extra stress on United’s young back line.

Scoring Summary:

DC — Andy Najar 4 (Dwayne De Rosario 11) 13
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 11 (Andy Najar 6) 22
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 12 (Josh Wolff 6) 27
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 13 (unassisted) 31
RSL — Alvaro Saborio 10 (Paulo Araujo Jr. 4) 86

Real Salt Lake — Nick Rimando, Blake Wagner (Will Johnson 62), Nat Borchers, Rauwshan McKenzie, Chris Wingert, Arturo Alvarez (Luis Gil 62), Kyle Beckerman, Collen Warner, Ned Grabavoy, Paulo Araujo Jr., Jean Alexandre (Alvaro Saborio 75).

Substitutes Not Used: Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales, Chris Schuler, Tim Melia.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Brandon McDonald, Marc Burch, Andy Najar (Brandon Barklage 81), Stephen King, Clyde Simms, Austin Da Luz, Josh Wolff (Blake Brettschneider 74), Dwayne De Rosario (Joseph Ngwenya 65).

Substitutes Not Used: Charlie Davies, Santino Quaranta, Daniel Woolard, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:

RSL — Collen Warner (caution; Reckless Tackle) 59

Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Strickland; Adam Garner
4th Official: Andrew Chapin

Time of game: 1:49
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-73-degrees
Attendance: 16,367

Granted, the spectacular hat trick from Dwayne DeRosario, which set a new MLS record at 31 minutes for earliest completion of the feat, was a masterpiece of individual effort, but the real story was how he was set up to succeed.

The Canadian emphasized the contribution of those around him, “I can’t speak more highly about the performance all around from the guys. I think collectively, as a unit, it was first class, from Bill right up to the forwards.”

DC United and Real Salt Lake have a history of playing possession soccer. Often that results in a grinding fight in midfield. In this particular game, both teams came out with the same idea, play compactly to thwart midfield linkups and flip the ball over the top or slip it through openings to get behind the defense.

DeRosario credits the strategy for both Najar’s goal off his finely threaded through ball and his own header off Najar’s perfectly placed lob. “Most importantly, we kept our shape and that’s what Ben wanted us to do.” He later added, “We stuck to the game plan, stayed compact.”

There is an adage in soccer that says, “Front to back, play compact; side to side, keep it wide.” Although most often adhering to the rule, both teams sometimes reverted to half-width play, leaving space down the sides which was almost never exploited by Salt Lake and more often put to use by United.

Veteran and captain, Josh Wolff seconded DeRosario’s praise of the overall team effort, “We’re not a one man show although DeRo takes a lot of the credit tonight…It comes back to the discipline of how we approach things.”

He elaborated on playing a compact style front to back and featuring over the top balls, “It’s indicative of the guys you have out there.”

When a team has players like Najar, Marc Burch, or Santino Quaranta who can place long balls onto attackers’ heads or feet, opponents can more easily be bypassed when front to back distance is shortened. “They (RSL) do a good job of closing space like we talk about in our group, keeping the space between forwards and the backs to 35 yards.”

A shortened midfield negated one of Salt Lake’s most potent weapons, Kyle Beckerman, who never seemed to have enough room to dominate play as he has so often in the past. Conditions were a bit unusual for both teams and, “I think we responded better…Andy’s ball to DeRo was amazing and obviously DeRo’s to Andy was as well”, was how Wolff summed it up.

Former DC United coach, Peter Nowak will surely study the films of this game and it will be interesting to see whether he chooses to play the compact game on Thursday or finds another way to open up play to put extra stress on United’s young back line.

Scoring Summary:

DC — Andy Najar 4 (Dwayne De Rosario 11) 13
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 11 (Andy Najar 6) 22
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 12 (Josh Wolff 6) 27
DC — Dwayne De Rosario 13 (unassisted) 31
RSL — Alvaro Saborio 10 (Paulo Araujo Jr. 4) 86

Real Salt Lake — Nick Rimando, Blake Wagner (Will Johnson 62), Nat Borchers, Rauwshan McKenzie, Chris Wingert, Arturo Alvarez (Luis Gil 62), Kyle Beckerman, Collen Warner, Ned Grabavoy, Paulo Araujo Jr., Jean Alexandre (Alvaro Saborio 75).

Substitutes Not Used: Fabian Espindola, Javier Morales, Chris Schuler, Tim Melia.

D.C. United — Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Ethan White, Brandon McDonald, Marc Burch, Andy Najar (Brandon Barklage 81), Stephen King, Clyde Simms, Austin Da Luz, Josh Wolff (Blake Brettschneider 74), Dwayne De Rosario (Joseph Ngwenya 65).

Substitutes Not Used: Charlie Davies, Santino Quaranta, Daniel Woolard, Joe Willis.

Misconduct Summary:

RSL — Collen Warner (caution; Reckless Tackle) 59

Referee: Edvin Jurisevic
Referee’s Assistants: Chris Strickland; Adam Garner
4th Official: Andrew Chapin

Time of game: 1:49
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-73-degrees
Attendance: 16,367

Juan Pablo Angel continued to haunt United regardless of the shirt he wears, scoring twice in the second half to bring the game to level terms after United extended a first half lead just a few minutes into the second half.

“There is a mentality to this game right now that some of our guys don’t have. You have to have it for 90-minutes and you have to have it game-in-and-game-out and we don’t have it. Part of it is youth and part of it is complacency.

“It’s the way we fade in and out of games as a group, the way we take breaks; it’s the reason why we haven’t won two games in a row in three years. It’s a mentality that after you do well then it’s okay now and we can afford to let down.”

United have not won consecutive league matches since early June of 2009, a span of over 70-matches, and those also represent the last successive home wins as well.

United (8-8-11, 35 points) not only frittered away this game but an opportunity to leapfrog New York (7-7-15, 36 points) in the tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race, as the Red Bulls were dumped at home by Real Salt Lake.

“I don’t know if we should have been up 2-0 but we were and to tie that game is absolutely ridiculous,” Olsen continued.

Chivas had lost four in a row coming into the match and are now winless in their last seven games. United pounded Chivas 3-0 in at Home Depot Center just 11 days earlier but this was not the same team that United faced that night.

Dwayne De Rosario scored his 10th goal of the season with a rare header to give United the lead in the 39th minute with Ethan White adding another in a seemingly rarer fashion, off a corner, to give United a two goal cushion shortly after halftime.

De Rosario was awarded a less than deserved penalty kick to possibly win the game in the 93rd minute but in what could be deemed poetic justice or just plain fair, the kick was saved by goalkeeper Dan Kennedy.

As De Rosario was aiming to get onto a weakly floated ball into the penalty area, Angel barely got his hand on the back of the Canadian international. When De Rosario flopped to the turf, Referee Chris Penso bit, and pointed to the spot for the late game gift.

In the first half, De Rosario had snuck through a crowd of players to nod home Andy Najar’s free kick after Jorge Flores carelessly handled the ball just outside the top right corner of the penalty to give United the lead.

Other than an early deflected shot by Marcos Mondaini that challenged United keeper Bill Hamid, the goal was the most compelling moment in an otherwise listless first half where neither team looked ambitious enough to take hold of the match or worthy of a playoff spot.

Chivas had been very diligent in quickly double teaming any United player that received the ball in a dangerous position.

“We played like boys and not just the second half; I thought in the first half we played soft,” said Olsen. “We are up 2-0 and we think the game is easy; we think we don’t have to tackle, we don’t have to win second balls, let’s just roll the dice and hope we get lucky. It’s absolutely gonna stop, it has to stop or we will not be going to make the playoffs it’s that simple.”

On United’s second goal, De Rosario got into another good spot, flicking a short range shot that Kennedy did well to get flare out his right hand and knock away. But no one bothered to mark Ethan White on the follow up and he knocked it home with authority to make the score 2-0.

Charlie Davies had a good chance to tack on another one and possibly put the game out of reach in the 53rd minute with a left footer from a step right of the penalty spot but Kennedy was well positioned to deflect it away to safety.

“When it’s 2-0 in the second half you have to take those opportunities to kill off the game whether it’s getting that third goal or shoring up things around the field and we lost that urgency on the defensive end after we got that two goal lead and thinking it was going to be a little easier to close out the game,” said Josh Wolff.

“We have to do the little bit of extra work that closes the game down and makes it difficult for the other team. There is a lot that goes into that but at that point, our general makeup has to play with a little more bite, a little more urgency and not give anything away.”

United were duly punished for sloppy coverage in the 58th minute by one of the great finishers in MLS history. Angel easily beat Perry Kitchen to a simple, and uncontested, cross from Nick LaBrocca at the right edge of the penalty area to draw one back for Chivas.

Brandon McDonald had slipped on the wet turf, giving LaBrocca plenty of time of time and space to deliver the fruitful ball across the face of the goal.

Angel corralled Ante Jazic’s bouncing ball from the left side, took a step inside and blasted home a relatively easy finish from 8-yards for a player of his caliber to bring the game to level terms in the 69th minute.

Laurent Courtois nearly stole a win for the visitors but Hamid neatly blocked the Frenchman’s left footed shot from 13-yards after the Frenchmen inexcusably got behind Kitchen for a semi-break away in the 85th minute.

“I haven’t seen consistent, game after game, high level performances. It’s there – the talent is there, but talent is not enough. I have been on terrible teams that have won games because we had guys that would do anything – anything – to win a game,” said Olsen.

“And that means if they are tired, if they lose the ball, they don’t stop. If you have to run 40 yards as hard as you can to tackle or to help a teammate, you do it. And that part is missing, and it has got to stop.

“I don’t know necessarily how to instill it right now but certainly I am going to do my best to try and instill it.”