Miguel Cotto Cotto Closes Antonio Margarito’s Eye and his Mouth
By SecondsOut (Dec 5, 2011) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © German Villasenor)
-  
Don King
SecondsOut.com - By Jerry Glick. Miguel Cotto, the WBA Junior-Middleweight Champion, successfully defended his title and settled an old score with former conqueror Antonio “The Tijuana Tornado” Margarito when referee Steve Smoger, on advice from the doctors, halted their rematch at the end of the ninth round with the Mexican’s fragile right eye swollen shut. Officially it is a tenth round TKO.

They fought in front of a partisan, sold out, crowd of 21, 239, who cheered everything Cotto did and booed Margarito for everything he did.

Cotto, 37-2 (30 KOs), dominated the fight throughout using movement and quick flurries of punches to unsettle and disrupt Margarito’s attack over and over again. This avenges a suspect loss that Cotto suffered at the hands of Margarito back in 2008.

Since their encounter Margarito, 38-8-0-1 (27 KOs), was allegedly caught loading his hand wraps before a fight with Shane Mosley creating the controversy that now surrounds many of Margarito’s past performances. Cotto said before the fight that he believed that he was the victim of the former welterweight champ’s cheating when he took a savage beating in their first fight.

Cotto, 152 ¼ pounds, from Caguas, PR, said recently that he tired after the sixth round in 2008, but there was no fatigue evident on either man as they engaged in a non-stop struggle from the first bell to the last one. Cotto set the pattern early using the ring to hit and not be hit by changing directions, stepping to the side, ducking under and walking away before the taller, slower Mexican before he could land a solid punch. He did not let emotions cloud his plan. Cotto put on a defensive boxing 101 class. He never let the tall, stronger challenger set himself for his punches and had Margarito, of Tijuana, Mexico, chasing after him rather than attempting to cut the ring off, which would have been a better tactic for the challenger. The Puerto Rican fan favorite had his strategy and never wavered. There were moments when he did engage his opponent, but the champion only did that when it was prudent. He never allowed himself to be sucked into a street fight.

As early as the third session, Margarito, 152 ½ pounds, had blood coming from a cut on the right eyelid. That eye may have become vulnerable because of the damage that it suffered in the Pacquiao fight that had Margarito on the operating table twice to correct the damage which included replacing his lens and fixing a broken orbital bone.

The ring physicians checked the eye after the eighth round but allowed the fight to continue, but as the eye worsened, one doctor admitted that the original injury, “Was always in the back of their minds.”

After the fight Cotto explained the difference between Margarito’s power in the first fight with this one, “I’m still waiting,” he said.

“There’s no place like New York,” said Bob Arum, the exuberant head man at Top Rank who promoted the show at the Mecca, Madison Square Garden. “This guy owns the town. He’s the biggest ticket seller, ever, in New York.”

Arum is always thinking and planning, “There are a lot of guys (to match Cotto with). The one guy I’d love to see him fight, and right in this arena, is (WBC Middleweight Champion Julio Caesar) Chavez.”

At that point Cotto jumped in to say that he is a Top Rank fighter, “Always,” putting any doubt about his resigning a contract with Arum at rest. “He’s my promoter,” said the Champion. “And he’s going to be, always.”

A disappointed Margarito said that he will continue to fight, but where the much reviled boxer can go from here is problematic at best. He has suffered heavy beatings in three out of his last four fights, his career was, and may remain, in jeopardy since being accused of loading his gloves

More recent Headlines from SecondsOut.com:
Don King says Mayweather owes him $500K, & Talks Pacquiao & more - Video S.out / DHB
Miguel Cotto stops Antonio Margarito S.Out
Title Fights added to Klitschko vs Mormeck
Rhodes Wins, Curtis Woodhouse Defeats Gary McArthur
Saul Alvarez impressive out boxing and stopping Kermit Cintron S.Out
Jorge Arce Makes Mexican Boxing History SecondsOut
Boxing Results - Pablo Munguia outworks Juan Rivera in Mexico City Marc Livitz
Beibut Shumenov speaks out on Nathan Cleverly DHB
Kermit Cintron Is Well Prepared For Saul Alvarez Clive Bernath
Lamont Peterson speaks out on Amir Khan
Wlad Klitschko's Boxing prediction for Vitali Klitschko vs David Haye
Roger: Mayweather vs Pacquiao Is The Only Fight That Matters
Odlanier Solis Boxing Comeback Delayed Again
Boxing Trainer Emanuel Steward slams David Haye
Vitali Klitschko vs David Haye Talks Confirmed

This report provided to Doghouse Boxing by © SecondsOut.com

For much more boxng headlines and videos, visit the homepage at DoghouseBoxing.

Write for Doghouse Boxing: anthonyc1974@gmail.com.



NEW: Follow Doghouse Boxing on FaceBook!
For more Boxing News 24/7 and so much more... 
visit our homepage now!


© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing Inc. 1998-2011