Margarito wears down Cotto, takes WBA title in the 11th
July 26th, 2008, 4:21 pm · Post a Comment · posted by CARLOS ARIAS
LAS VEGAS - Miguel Cotto threw everything he had at Antonio Margarito, but Margarito kept pressing forward like something out of a horror film.
Cotto landed crisp combinations and counter-punches flush on Margarito's face in the early rounds, and an unfazed Margarito kept stalking forward with a resound determination.
Margarito's relentless attack eventually wore down the Puerto Rican champion and nobody knows how to finish like the "Tijuana Tornado."
Margarito knocked down Cotto twice in the 11th round before Cotto's uncle/trainer, Evangelista Cotto, came to his rescue of his valiant nephew, jumping on the ring apron and calling for referee Kenny Bayless to stop the fight at the 2:05 mark.
Margarito captured the WBA welterweight title with the victory on Saturday night in front of about 10,477 at the MGM Grand Garden.
"Obviously, Cotto is a very strong fighter," Margarito said. "I told my corner I would wear him out and knock him out and that's what I did. He never hurt me. The game plan was to come out early, be aggressive and knock him out."
Cotto's face was a swollen and bruised mess after the fight, but the Puerto Rican champion was gracious in defeat.
"I'm very proud and very happy I was able to give the fans a great fight," Cotto said. "Life continues ... it's not over for me. I'm going to take a long rest and figure out what I'm going to do next."
Two of the judges had Margarito ahead, 96-94, while the third judge had the fight even, 95-95, at the time of the stoppage. Margarito threw a staggering 987 total punches in the fight to Cotto's 655. Margarito threw 647 power punches.
"This night was Margarito's night," Cotto said. "He's an excellent fighter. He did his job better than me tonight."
Margarito called out Oscar De La Hoya after the fight, but many people probably will be clamoring for a rematch between Margarito and Cotto considering how exciting and competitive the first one was.
"Oscar De La Hoya is one of the best," Margarito said. "If he comes through with his promise, we can give Mexicans a true battle."
Cotto's quickness was evident from the first round as he beat Margarito to the punch on numerous occasions. The first major skirmish happened midway through the first round as Margarito cornered Cotto and landed some hard shots, but Cotto answered with a combination to fight his way out of the corner.
Margarito was really applying the pressure in the second round, landing lead right hands and pinning Cotto on the ropes and doing damage with body shots. Cotto fought back hard, but the second round belonged to Margarito. Cotto had a bloody nose after the second round.
Margarito continued to press forward, but it was Cotto that took the third round with his effective counter-punching and defense.
Cotto wasn't giving Margarito much to hit with his excellent defense. Even when Margarito backed him into the ropes, Cotto came back strong with his fast hands and combinations.
Margarito didn't get frustrated and kept stalking Cotto in the fifth round. Cotto switched from the right-handed stance to southpaw at will and kept catching Margarito as he was coming in. Margarito was eating combinations as he plowed ahead. Cotto showing some outstanding footwork and upper-body movement as he eluded Margarito's biggest shots and countered with crisp punches.
Margarito had the toe-to-toe slugfest he wanted in the sixth round as he started to land some of his vicious uppercuts. But Cotto was giving as much as he was receiving. Margarito closed the round strong, landing a series of three left uppercuts.
"In the sixth round, I knew I was going to take over," Margarito said. "I could feel him getting weaker and I was getting stronger. I knew it was my time."
Margarito's constant pressure starting to wear on Cotto in the seventh round. Cotto had to hold on for the first time in the fight after Margarito landed a series of uppercuts. Margarito wasn't giving Cotto any room to breath. Cotto should incredible grit and determination to withstand the brutal assault.
Cotto trying to give Margarito a lot of movement eighth round, but whenever he stopped Margarito made him pay. Even when Cotto landed flush counter punches, Margarito walked right through them and kept coming.
The Cotto counters were less frequent by the ninth round as Margarito's relentless pressure continued to take its toll on the Puerto Rican champion.
Cotto's face was showing the effects from Margarito's heavy-handed punches by the 10th round. But Margarito also had some damage around his left eye from Cotto's sharp punches. Cotto was having a good round until the final minute when he unloaded a barrage of punches that forced Cotto to clinch.
Margarito put an absolute beating on Cotto in the 11th round. Cotto did his best to defend, but Margarito's punches were coming from everywhere. A left uppercut wobbled Cotto and Margarito poured on the punishment until Cotto hit the canvas.
Cotto was up on wobbly legs, staggering around the ring and barely avoiding Margarito's punches when he went down a second time out of pure exhaustion. Cotto's trainer/uncle, Evangelista Cotto, didn't want to see his nephew take any more punishment, so he got up on the ring apron and stopped the fight.
PPV UNDERCARD
Cesar Canchila withstood Giovanni Segura's early onslaught and came on strong to take a 12-round unanimous decision and capture the interim WBA light-flyweight title on the Cotto-Margarito undercard.
Canchila was in a ton of trouble in the first three rounds as Segura came out winging wild haymakers. Segura floored Canchila with a right hook in the second round.
But the Colombian kept his composure, weathered the storm and used more technically-sound skills to start taking control of the fight.
Segura's right was swollen shut by the seventh round after eating a steady diet of left jabs. Canchila swept the final four rounds and won comfortably on the scorecards, 117-110, 115-112, 117-110.
Canchila, of Monteria, Colombia, upped his record to 27-1 with 21 KOs, while Segura, of Bell gardens, dropped to 19-1-1 with 15 KOs.
Super-lightweight prospect Mike Alvarado (22-0, 15 KOs) of Thornton, Colo., might have some defensive deficiencies, but he knows how to close the show.
Alvarado slugged it out with former WBC lightweight champion Cesar Bazan (48-11-1, 31 KOs) of Mexico City, Mexico, for the first three rounds then finished him with a left uppercut and a overhand right that leveled him at 2:46 of the fourth round.
"I started off slow," Alvarado said. "By the third round I was getting better and getting my rhythm. I felt his power in the early rounds. I was getting stronger as the fight wore on. I'd like to try a top-10 guy in my next fight."
Top Rank's Bob Arum has been comparing super-bantamweight prospect Bernabe Concepcion (26-1-1, 15 KOs) of Rizal Province, Philippines, to a young Manny Pacquiao, and Concepcion lived up to the hype with a devastating third-round TKO over Adam Carrera (19-4, 8 KOs) of Cathedral City.
Concepcion was patient for two rounds, then he exploded in the third round. He drilled Carrera with a straight right to record the first knockdown. Concepcion dropped Carrera with a right that landed flush on his chin to get the stoppage at 2:14 of the third round.
"I did what I had to do,"Concepcion said. "I was too strong for him. I'm ready to go after a title."
Concepcion's trainer, Freddie Roach, was pleased with his pupil's performance.
"There is no reason to hold him back," Roach said. "He passed this test with flying colors."
NON-TELEVISED UNDERCARD
Super-bantamweight prospect Jesus Rojas (13-0, 10 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico, dropped Anyetei Laryea (16-5, 9 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, in the third round with a right hand, but he had to settle for an 8-round unanimous decision.
All three judges scored it for Rojas, 77-74, 78-73, 78-73.
In a matchup of rugged super-bantamweights, Luis Cervantes (7-3-3, 1 NC, 2 KOs) of Cathedral City and Brian Ramirez (5-1, 1 NC, 3 KOs) of Los Angeles fought to a no-contest after an accidental head butt opened a bad cut on Ramirez's left eyebrow.
Ramirez is trained by Margarito's trainer, Javier Capetillo.
Featherweight Benjamin Flores (19-3, 6 KOs) of Houston, Tex., and Vernie Torres (27-12, 15 KOs) of Davao City, Philippines, engaged in a very close back-and-forth battle that was cut short in the eighth round due to an unintentional head butt that opened a nasty gash on Flores' left eyelid.
Flores had piled up enough points in the early rounds to win an 8-round technical decision. Torres also lost a point in the fifth round for a low blow. All three judges scored it in favor of Flores, 78073, 79-72, 79-72, even though it appeared to be much more competitive than the final scores indicated.
Featherweight Luis Cruz (7-0, 5 KOs) of Las Piedras, Puerto Rico, stopped Jaime Villa (5-6-1, 2 KOs) of Midland, Tex., with 1 second left in the opening round to get the TKO victory.
