Cotto vs Margarito 2: Cotto wins via Round 10 TKO

COTTO STILL SUPERWELTERWEIGHT CHAMP

        Perfect ending to this three and a half year saga....Shane Mosley obliterated him, Pacquaio severely injured him, and now Cotto has humiliated him. In their long awaited grudge rematch, WBA super welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs) scored a tenth round TKO over Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs) on Saturday night before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 

      Cotto won the first two rounds by moving and punching. In round three he opened up Margarito’s right eye, the eye which Margarito suffered a broken orbital bone in the Pacquiao fight. Margarito upped the pressure as the rounds progressed, but Cotto’s mobility and sharp punching still did more damage. Margarito’s eye was swollen shut by round seven, but he continually applied pressure despite Cotto landing the better punches. Cotto now focused his offense around stiff jabs and left hooks on Margarito’s swelling and bleeding right eye. Margarito opened with uppercuts in the eighth, which Cotto countered with jarring hooks to prevent his rival from gaining momentum. Before the ninth, the extensive damage to Margarito’s eye prompted close inspection from ringside doctors and a check to make sure Margarito could still see but the bout continued. The spectre of a stoppage loss rejuvenated Margarito, who pressed Cotto and forced several clinches due to his uppercuts and hooks to the body. However, Cotto refused to wilt and stormed back in the last minute with several huge left hooks on Margarito’s now swollen shut right eye.The ringside doctor and physicians immediately descended on the corner to inspect the eye before the 10th. Referee Steve Smoger was reluctant to stop it as Margarito jumped to his feet to show he could continue. Smoger asked several times for a final verdict before the ringside physician confirmed the bout should be stopped, much to the disgust of Margarito. The time was 0:03 at the start of round ten.

Other Fight Card Results:

      Brandon Rios (29-0-1, 22 KOs) overcame weight issues and being stripped of his lightweight title to administer a methodical beating of John Murray (31-2, 18 KOs). Rios, who failed to make the bout’s contracted weight of 135 pounds and was stripped of his WBA belt, relied heavily on uppercuts to break down Murray (whose face was marked by a bloody nose and swelling, discolored eyes by the sixth round). Rios would secure the stoppage in the 11th after a succession of left uppercuts had Murray out on his feet.

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       Delvin Rodriguez (26-5-2, 14 KOs) scored a dominant unanimous decision win over rival Pawel Wolak (29-2-1, 19 KOs). Having fought Wolak to a draw in a thrilling Fight of the Year candidate in July, Rodriguez improved tactics by smothering Wolak’s inside game with clinches and controlling the exchanges with head-snapping uppercuts and hooks. The performance was punctuated by a vicious 10th round that saw Rodriguez batter Wolak with over a dozen unanswered hooks and uppercuts. Final scorecards read 100-90, 98-92 and 98-91.

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        Mike Jones (26-0, 19 KOs) opened the card with a unanimous decision win over Sebastian Lujan (38-6-2, 24 KOs). Jones landed several good right hands early, but struggled to later adjust to Lujan’s awkward mix of upper body movement, backfoot fighting and sloppy pressure. Jones’ win makes him the #1 contender for Andre Berto’s IBF welterweight title.