Earlier tonight, WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto successfully defended his crown with a comprehensive and often-entertaining 10th round TKO over former champion Antonio Margarito. Margarito had handed Cotto his first defeat nearly three and a half years ago in Las Vegas, but on this night Cotto was able to turn the tables inside of Madison Square Garden.
Cotto showed great counter-punching skills early in the fight and his movement troubled Margarito. Cotto built up a big early lead over the first half of the fight but Margarito, to his credit, was able to bite down and make a fight out of things as the fight wore on.
After the tenth round, ringside physicians took a look at Margarito?s surgically-repaired right eye which in this fight again closed after the Tijuana fighter absorbed his share of punishment, and the bout was halted. Margarito emphatically begged to fight on but the result was one that the crowd at the Garden was praying for.
With the win Cotto gets revegne in capturing one of the sweetest victories of his career. Advertisement
Asked for his opinion of Margarito after the fight, Cotto told HBO?s Max Kellerman that he had no feelings at all towards Margarito, who he feels cheated with tampered hand wraps during their first fight in July of 2008.
?He means nothing to me,? Cotto stated emphatically.
Cotto?s future remains uncertain but reports state that his contract with Top Rank is set to end after this bout. Rumors in the industry have him flirting with a move to Golden Boy Promotions but Cotto pointed out that he simply wants to rest and will be able to talk boxing a few weeks thereafter.
