Miguel Cotto Takes Down Antonio Margarito With Devastating Blows

By Michael Lopez

Miguel Cotto got a nice piece of justice handed to him Saturday night in the boxing ring of Madison Square Garden. The Puerto Rican champ took down his towering opponent, Antonio Margarito, with a TKO victory in the 10th round, much to the delight of the New York crowd.

The press had been hyping the Cotto/Margarito bout for months, particularly since the two have such a bitter rivalry. Back in 2008, Antonio beat Miguel in a very controversial fight. There were rumors about Margarito using illegal hand wraps and possible discrepancies on how the judges came to their final scores.

So this Saturday was the opportunity to clear it all up. Both fighters seemed eager to face each other again. Before the bout, Antonio seemed very confident that he would be victorious, even taunting Miguel and his fans to the press.

"I beat you before, I’ll do it again," he laughingly told Cotto in front of reporters.

But that certainly wasn't the case on fight night. By the 10th round, Margarito was in bad shape. His right eye had been beaten shut (which now reportedly requires 12 stitches to fix) and there was a point when boxing officials felt the need to call a doctor into the ring.

"It came to the point there was no vision at all from the eye," ring M.D. Anthony Curreri said. "I think it would have been dangerous for him to go out there without any visual field. He did go quite a bit with the eye impaired."

But, to Antonio's credit, he never once gave up and kept trying his hardest to deliver a KO to Miguel. Of course, that moment never came. Ultimately, with a losing scorecard and way too many knockdowns, the judges decided to call the fight in Cotto's favor.

That's when the New York crowd erupted, proudly waving Puerto Rican flags and screaming the name of their hometown hero. Miguel seemed thrilled with the response and unfazed by any of Margarito’s punches.

He also made sure to emphasize that without wrapped gloves, Antonio dealt very little damage.

"I'm still awake. That's my answer," Cotto said when asked if Margarito threw softer punches this time out. "After nine, 10 rounds, I'm still on my feet!"

Which is a lot more than can be said for Antonio.

Who were you rooting for in the Cotto/Margarito fight? Sound off in the comments or @MTV3.

Tags Antonio Margarito, Blogger: Michael Lopez, boxing, Chisme, Miguel Cotto, popnews, Sports