Margarito not worried about eye in Cotto rematch

Mexican boxer Antonio Margarito will give his surgically repaired right eye its first major test when he battles WBA world champ Miguel Cotto in a rematch on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. Margarito needed surgery to fix a fractured orbital bone after a lopsided loss to Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao in November 2010. "He can punch me in the eye," Margarito said of Cotto. "It's not going to do any damage." Puerto Rico's Cotto, who suffered a controversial loss to Margarito in July 2008, said he has not ruled out going for the right side as part of his strategy Saturday. "We prepare for anything," he said. "But if we saw some weakness on Margarito," he and his corner would go after it, he added. Cotto added he did not think Margarito would fight unless he was healthy. Margarito stopped Cotto in the 11th round in their rousing first fight to win Cotto's WBA welterweight title. Cotto accused the Mexican of using illegal hand wraps during their first title fight. Margarito has denied the accusation. In Margarito's next fight, six months after beating Cotto, he was caught with a plaster-like substance in his wraps before a loss to Shane Mosley in Los Angeles. Margarito missed more than a year because of the hand-wrapping scandal. Since their first fight, both Cotto and Margarito have lost to Pacquiao. Cotto and Margarito did not know for certain until late last month that their fight for Cotto's WBA junior middleweight belt was on. The New York State Athletic Commission ordered an final examination of Margarito's eye before licensing him on November 22 for the 154-pound fight.