In one of the most exciting boxing
contests I have ever witnessed, Mexico's Antonio Margarito stormed
into Las Vegas' MGM Grand arena Saturday night and pressured Miguel
Cotto into a 11th round submission lifting the Puerto Rican's
WBA 147 pound title in thrilling fashion. Using relentless pressure
and a wicked body attack, "The Tijuana Tornado" chased
Cotto around the ring for 11 rounds taking everything Cotto could
dish out. With a chin of granite, Margarito withstood every jab,
hook, and straight right Cotto hurled his way, eating head shots
for every body shot he gave in return. It was give and take action
through 6 rounds with Cotto winning on my scorecard and Margarito
increasingly laying the groundwork for Cotto's second half demise.
Through the first 6 rounds Cotto's
constant movement to his left paid off as Margarito was dusted
by the champion's cleaner punches. But it was the effect of Margarito's
pressure and vicious body attack that proved the inevitable difference,
and as the fight progressed Margarito was able to capitalize on
a tiring Cotto. Hurting Cotto a handful of times over the subsequent
4 rounds, Margarito at last caught an exhausted Cotto with his
angular storm of uppercuts and straight rights in the 11th forcing
the champion to take a knee. With a bruised and horribly bloody
face, Cotto rose from the canvas but quickly found himself stumbling
into the corner to take a second knee less than thirty seconds
later. With blood pouring from his mouth and nose and the look
of a broken man plastered on his face, Cotto's corner had seen
enough and mercifully threw in the towel to end the fight. It
was an amazing conclusion to a certain candidate for fight of
the year.
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Cotto fought gallantly but
it wasn't enough to quell
the Tijuana Tornado's relentless
assault.
|
Margarito moves to 37-5
(25 KO)
Cotto falls to 32-1 (26
KO)
Here is the official scoring
of the fight through 10 rounds:
96-94, 96-94, 95-95 (2 judges
for Margarito, 1 judge even)
My Scoring of the Fight:
| Round |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
Total |
| Cotto |
10 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
TKO'd |
95 |
| Margarito |
9 |
10 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
|
95 |
Quote of the night by Jim
Lampley:
"It's not easy to wink
with an eye like that." - Referring to undercard combatant
Giovanni Segura winking to the crowd with a grossly swollen eye
after taking several hard shots.
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