No mercy from Cole, Margarito trainer

Manny Pacquiao once again put on a magnificent display of boxing skill, incredible hand speed, cat-quick movement, remarkable power and indomitable courage in pulverizing a hapless Antonio Margarito in 12 rounds on Sunday. 
But what shone like a beacon in an occasionally brutal sport was Pacquiao’s behavior as a consummate gentleman and a man of mercy, both in and outside the ring. 
When his pleas to referee Laurence Cole to stop the massacre went unheeded, Pacquiao carried Margarito in the final three rounds, not wanting to inflict further pain and injury on the Mexican, whose own courage showcased the warrior mentality of the Mexican fighters. 
Margarito’s right eye was closed shut and swollen. He was cut and there was a huge lump under his right eye. 
But Cole, for reasons known only to him, refused to call a halt, thereby endangering Margarito’s career, if not his life. 
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This is the same referee who ruled that a Pacquiao slip in his fight against Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera in November 2003 was a knockdown. And when Pacquiao clearly dropped Barrera, he ruled it as a slip. 
Whether it was a manifestation of his prejudice, or his obvious incompetence, or a combination of both, we will never know. 
His failure to halt the fight may well have ended the career of Margarito. 
That Cole failed to do so despite Manny’s pleas is a crime for which the WBC or any other world organization should never allow since the admonition “protect yourself at all times” is a major concern for referees. 
There is no way that the kind of injury suffered by Margarito should be allowed in the name of sport because it essentially demeaned the essence of boxing as a sport. 
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Margarito was in no way capable of protecting himself because of a badly damaged right eye, yet Cole allowed the massacre to continue. 
Both Margarito and Cole were actually saved by Pacquiao, who refused to rip into his opponent when he could have done so with possible dire consequences. 
A career-ending injury or even something worse could well have happened. And it would have not only damned Cole for life, it would have bothered Pacquiao the rest of his own wonderful life and cast a painful shadow over his achievement as well. 
Boxing, for whatever its imperfections, is a sport. The idea behind winning is not to kill or maim an opponent but to use one’s skill to prevail. For, in its purest form, boxing is referred to as the fistic art of self defense. 
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The other individual who deserves to be castigated for his failure to stop the fight and protect Margarito is trainer Robert Garcia. 
One would think that the man who mocked Freddie Roach’s Parkinson’s ailment would have had more consideration for his fighter, unless he wanted Margarito to suffer the same fate as Roach. 
To claim that Margarito didn’t want him to stop the fight is a pathetic excuse which showed Garcia didn’t have the strength of will to make the right decision. He should be ashamed of himself. 
Oscar De La Hoya’s corner made him quit against Pacquiao when his right eye was also badly swollen, although it was nowhere near as bad as Margarito’s. 
Referee Kenny Bayless, one of the very best, stopped the Cotto fight in Round 12 when Cotto was nowhere near as battered as Margarito. 
These two decisions involving Pacquiao fights should have served as an example to Cole and Garcia. But, apparently, they were themselves too blinded to see what was staring them in the face. 
By their inaction they effectively ruined the career of Margarito.