Antonio Margarito upset Miguel Cotto tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, winning the WBA welterweight title with an active, powerful boxing exhibition, and shaking up the welterweight division in the process.
It was more a technical boxing match than the experts expected early, but Margarito turned it into a brawl late. Margarito was winning on two of the three judges' scorecards after the 10th round, and he won the fight with two knockdowns in the 11th. After the second knockdown, Cotto's mouth and nose were bloodied and battered, and his corner waved the towel and the ref stopped the fight.
The Puerto Rican Cotto entered the ring undefeated but now falls to 32-1. The Mexican Margarito, with the best win of his career, improved to 37-5. These are two of the best fighters in the world, and they gave the fans their money's worth.
Previously on FanHouse:
Miguel Cotto-Antonio Margarito Live Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-27-2008 @ 12:31AM
George B Vieto said...
Miguel Cotto is one great fighter but he met his match against Antonio Margarito tonight.
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8-10-2008 @ 7:38PM
Ernesto Garcia (neto) said...
I knew that Margarito was goiing to win the fight because he fights he doesn't dance like Cotte did with Shane Mosley on the 10th,11th,12th round . Margarito fights he's not a dancer,he's a fighter to the end,and he did.Margarito you did it Amigo del Publico. Asta la vista Margarito you are a fighter.
7-27-2008 @ 12:44AM
louie v said...
As a mexican fan , there was no shame in Cotto's loss. Cotto is a true champion and he will be back, This fight is what boxing has been lacking for a couple of years.
Puerto Rico and Mexico deliver another gem.
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7-27-2008 @ 1:18AM
JK said...
Cotto will show his true manhood if and when he steps back in the ring with Margarito. He has no choice, he either rematches or goes on to win a bunch of fights that mean so much less in the eyes of true fans.
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7-27-2008 @ 2:25PM
SHONUFF said...
Why don't Margarito show his manhood and step back in the ring with Paul Williams???
Why are his people trying to erase that loss to Williams as if it never happened???
Before he claims himself the best welterweight, maybe he should beat the man who beat him last year and has the belt he used to own????????
7-27-2008 @ 3:01AM
El torrito LOZANO said...
VIVA MEXICO!!! Just as I predicted Margarito KO in the 11th...
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7-27-2008 @ 8:52AM
Hakan Kutdag said...
Big respect what Margarito reached last night even I am a big fan of Cotto!
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7-27-2008 @ 9:57AM
Uriel Israel said...
I believe Cotto will rise to claim his welterweight title again because he has been through many different forms of adversity. Miguel Cotto lost an Olympic bout against Muhammad Abdullaev only to later defeat Abdullaev in the WBA. Not to mention in 2001 he faced a possible career ending injury in a car accident breaking his arm, "I believe to be three areas." He would later return to the WBA to run a perfect boxing record of 32-0. And now he suffers this defeat, or is it?
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7-27-2008 @ 10:16AM
miz said...
I've got two words for you margarito fans....Paul Williams
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7-27-2008 @ 10:23AM
june said...
i think it was good fight.but cotto needed to get off those ropes,one other thing about the fight. his corner did not help at all. they should told him hit and run. for a boxer taller then him he had to it and run. next oscar? i like magaritto.
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7-27-2008 @ 11:20AM
JasonA said...
I still cant beleive it ! I thought cotto would be to strong for margarito and take him out with body shots!
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7-27-2008 @ 3:55PM
budo said...
Margarito was MUCH too powerful for Cotto. He also took all of Cotto's best shots and walked stright through them. As an ex-fighter I know the feeling when you pop someone with your best shots and they do not blink. VERY demoralizing!
Cotto had a standup fight and was tough to the end. Granite chin, constant pressure and a neverending array of HARD punches was too much for anyone to take. Williams should be next.
Cotto I doubt will be able to defeat Margarito in that his punches carry nothing and if you cannot hurt him, Margarito just keeps coming. No way to win a fight like that.
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7-27-2008 @ 4:35PM
rt said...
the only reason that paul williams beat margo was that tony made the mistake of taking him too lightly and i'm sure that if there were to be a rematch tony would do the same to paul as he did to cotto.
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7-27-2008 @ 9:10PM
SHONUFF said...
A lot of people feel the same way you do...
But until it happens, you amnesia-having Margarito fans can't just ignore it like it never took place! He was beaten by Paul Williams and needs to get revenge before claiming to be the best Welterweight in the world!
7-27-2008 @ 5:40PM
joey said...
Me as a puertorican will praise Margarito cause of what he is ... a Champ. If cotto's smart he would fierd his manager and traner for poor disitions in the ring and come back with a stronger, inteligent traner and manager for a victory....He will not give up for what he had acomplished.
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7-27-2008 @ 7:45PM
kev said...
that was a great fight iam a big fan of cotto but every dog has its day they are the best in thier class mayweather cant be compared to them if cotto wants a remacth he should consider going to the body kuz he was head hunting thru the whole fight
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7-27-2008 @ 9:07PM
mwhitt said...
It was a great fight. Cotto was outboxing him in the beginning, but he wasn't hurting Marg.. Marg. just kept coming. I was screaming rematch. Let's do it again for boxing fans.
I don't feel any of my black fighters would have survived that fight.
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7-27-2008 @ 10:05PM
Reacher said...
Paul Williams is a second rate fighter at best, and is on nobody's radar.
First, he won against AM by decision because AM statedt off very slow and Paul was running circles around him landing enough pity-patts to ratchet up the score and the judges just counted the punches. No damage, no punishment delivered, end of story.
Second, Paul Williams immediately lost that belt to Carlos Quintana, who flat out beat him up. Who is Carlos Quintana? Carlos Quintana is some who challenged Miguel Cotto for his belt and who was beaten up by Miguel Cotto. Doing the math?
Compare Paul Williams v Margarito to the first Lennox Lewis v Hasim Rahman fight (but in that case, a nice lucky punch knocked out, a wildly superior feat then what Williams did to Margarito). Margarito said that fight with Williams was a blessing because he vowed from that point forward to never start slow again. His fights since then have proven the truth of that vow, and he has crushed every opponent since. He was crushing them before when he used to start slow.
That fight was a gift to both men. It gave Paul Williams 15 minutes of fame he otherwise never deserved, and it made something snap inside of Antonio that took him to the next level and made stronger the thing in so many fighters have been afraid of in the past.
The truth is Margarito is a punisher of the first order, and Paul Williams had a decent night when Margarito was phoning it in. Margarito-Williams II would not be interesting at all. They are not in the same class. If anything, Paul Williams against Kermit Cintron might be a more interesting matchup, but in everyone's mind, Williams win over Margarito was a fluke. 12 months or less and he will be known as Paul Who?
Bob Arum isn't going to waste this golden moment on a nobody. He is going to send Antonio after the big guns, and Antonio is going to bring them down.
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7-28-2008 @ 12:08AM
Roberto said...
well said, Margarito is the best in his weight right, took the belt from the champ straight up, and learned from his past, we'll see what happens next.
7-28-2008 @ 7:58AM
Petey Wheatstraw said...
All those excuses for the Margarito loss are pathetic. He lost! That's why they fight. So regardless of who's radar Paul is on, you can't deny he beat Margarito. Regardless of how slowly Margarito started, you can't deny he was beaten.
I can't believe you are actually condoning Bob Arum ducking Paul Williams, a man who beat Margarito, just because he is not a big enough name. Isn't that what everyone is mad at Floyd for supposedly doing to Margarito?
So that makes Bob Arum what? A hypocrite???