Cotto gets sweet revenge over Margarito

Cotto (right) gained sweet revenge over Margarito with a tenth-round TKO victory

In a hotly anticipated grudge match, WBA Jr. middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto retained his belt against Antonio Margarito with a 10^th round TKO when the fight was stopped on the advice of the ringside doctor.

Cotto, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, boxed beautifully and patiently for nine full rounds, sticking and moving, backpedaling and turning Tijuana, Mexico’s Margarito with effective footwork.

Margarito was game throughout the fight, as he tried to repeat his performance in the pairing’s first fight and pin Cotto along the ropes, however Cotto’s skills had improved too much to fall into the same traps he did in 2008.

A more technically sound Cotto integrated his defense and offense with a coordination that seemed to be missing in his previous 38 fights, including a higher use of the clinch where he seemed to show an advantage in physical strength over the taller, rangier Margarito.

Cotto targeted Margarito's surgically repaired eye with aplomb

Much was made of the status of Margarito’s surgically repaired eye in lead up to the fight, and Cotto targeted it with aplomb, landing 86 power punches that closed it completely.

After the 9^th round of the shutout, referee Steve Smoger sent the sold out pro-Cotto crowd into a frenzy by finally calling off the surprisingly one-sided bout, and saving the now partially blind Margarito despite calls from his corner that he was fine to continue.

This represented a measure of revenge for a taciturn, but visually satisfied Cotto who avenged his first professional loss.

“I wanted to enjoy the taste of my victory,” said Cotto, who improves to 37-2, 30 KOs. “I’m just glad that this is all over and I’ve got this all behind me.”

Margarito, for his part, remained as indignant as ever, his fighter’s heart refusing to accept the one-sided beating he was receiving.

“I had no vision problems. I needed two more rounds to win the fight,” said Margarito. “I thought that I threw harder punches and I was doing fine. ”

Scoffing at the stoppage he told the press, “They were out to protect him [with the stoppage]. My eye is fine. He hits like a girl.”

The girls in Tijuana must be fierce.

Margarito claimed he had no vision problems despite a horribly swollen right eye

Despite his protests, Margarito appeared to have very little chance to catch Cotto on Saturday. The Puerto Rican boxer-puncher seemed to show new life in the ring, displaying a more developed, conservative, intelligent style that was only hinted at in two fights under world-renowned trainer Emmanuel Steward.

“He’s still a very strong fighter, but I’m way better than he is,” Cotto said. “I’m very happy and very proud of what I did tonight. There was a lot of hard work in this training camp. It showed that the strategy worked.”

This easy win for Cotto puts to rest many demons for the Puerto Rican star, and also casts Margarito’s career in a new light. How is it possible that the fighter who so badly distorted Cotto’s face in their first meeting barely hurt him in this one? Many who saw the fight will probably walk away concluding that Margarito’s great run from 2007 and 2008 was the result of dirty tactics, and his reputation and legacy may never recover.

For Cotto, the future opens up considerably. The 154-pound division is deep with young talent, especially the exciting and hard-punching Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and the Cotto who was on display this Saturday figures to beat most of them at this stage in their careers.

There is also the possibility of a fight with the much larger but less developed WBC Middleweight titlist Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., a win over whom would give Cotto his fourth title in as many divisions, making him the only Puerto Rican fighter in history to accomplish such a feat.

For now, Cotto has the well-earned right to rest easy, maybe for the first time in years, with the demons of his past soundly and definitively silenced.