In a classic case of "You should see the other guy," a busted-up Miguel Cotto took the microphone at the post-fight press conference after his war with Zab Judah with stitches over his right eye and a lip that was swollen to Rosie O'Donnell proportions. Zab, for his part, looked no better, wearing oversized sunglasses that couldn't hide the continuous trickle of blood that leaked down his right cheek throughout.

Both fighters were effusive in their praise for the other. Cotto paid tribute to Judah's power and heart: "[Judah] is a great puncher. He hit me pretty good and put me in trouble twice in the fight but thanks to God I can take his punch." He added, "Zab came to win. Zab came very prepared for this fight. He showed everybody that he wants to be a champion again. It was the toughest fight of my career."

A beaten but proud Judah proclaimed, "[Cotto] is a great young fighter. He's very determined. I love what he does." He also acknowledged Cotto's durability and recuperative skills: "Miguel is a tough fighter. He took some good shots and came back. He was able to weather the storm. He does his job well." Later, he added that Cotto's toughness under pressure impressed him the most: "When I hit him, he kind of weathered the storm very, very excellent and that kind of surprised me because he was able to conduct himself [with] the control that he did."

Cotto, who applied constant pressure throughout the fight, seemed to confuse Judah when he switched to southpaw, and landed several hard punches from the southpaw stance. Fightnews asked the still-undefeated champ about his frequent switch to southpaw that seemed to pose problems for Judah throughout the fight. Cotto responded, "During the fight you always try to find the best way to put your punches on your opponent and sometimes when I switch[ed] to southpaw, [it was] better than [right-handed]."

Despite giving credit to Cotto, Judah also had his share of excuses: "I got hit with two hard low blows. It did a lot to me. I got a lot of swelling on the back of my head." He also complained about referee Arthur Mercante Jr., who by most ringside accounts, did an excellent job at maintaining control of the fight under difficult circumstances: "[After going down from the second low blow] he told me to get up because 'you can't win the fight on the ground.'"

Zab also felt the referee's actions favored Cotto's style: "Every time I would tie him up on the inside, I just kept hearing my name and I was frustrated." He continued, "[The ref would say,] "Stop grabbing Zab, I'm gonna take a point." He also pointed to the mysterious disappearance of some of Team Judah's equipment: "Someone came to the corner and stole my endswell and my team bucket with my endswell so we had no endswell to rub on the cut."

Judah claimed the damage to right eye was not from a punch: "The damage came from the headbutt. I have 40 professional fights and I've never been cut. I don't have soft skin like that. He hit me with a headbutt and cut me." He also blamed the cut for his taking a knee in the ninth round: "Once my eye got cut and he stepped around to my right side, I couldn't see anymore and I was forced to take a knee. He didn't hurt me or anything for the eight count. I just couldn't see."

Despite the brutality of the fight, Judah stated that he would like a rematch: "I just want to do it again and show the world that I'm a warrior." He continued, "We're going to talk to Top Rank (Cotto's promoter) and see if we can do it again." And what if Cotto, as planned, takes the Margarito-Williams winner for his next fight? "If I don't get a rematch, I'll look at the contenders that's out there and keep shooting til I get it back. I have no intention of going up in weight class. I'll be looking to continue [at 147]."

Responding to whether he would grant Judah a rematch, Cotto responded, "I will do what my promotional company tells me [to do]." For his part, Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum confirmed that Cotto's future will be decided after the Margarito-Williams fight, and that Cotto-Mayweather is not in the foreseeable future: "Floyd is too busy counting his $20 million dollars. Maybe after he spends it…"

In a year that has seen a disappointing and over-hyped Mayweather-De La Hoya fight fail to live up to expectations, Zab summed up the night's fireworks perfectly: "It was a beautiful night. It brought back boxing."