Antonio Margarito Defeats Miguel Angel Cotto in 11 Round TKO Upset: Miguel Cotto’s (32-1, 26 KO) hopes of remaining undefeated, retaining his WBA 147-lb welterweight title, and earning a blockbuster fight against the Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya (in December), all came to a sudden end with a 11th round TKO to huge betting underdog Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs). It all happened in front of a rowdy crowd in Saturday night’s main event at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, NV. At BodogLife.com Miguel Angel Cotto was a huge -225 betting odds ML favorite to defeat the +185 underdog Antonio Margarito.

In the culminating moments of the fight (11th round), the Mexican star, Margarito, dropped the Puerto Rican champion twice by effectively bombarding him and forcing Cotto’s corner to stop the fight with less than a minute remaining in the penultimate round.

After winning his third welterweight belt, Margarito explained: “I told my corner I would wear him down and then knock him out… He never hurt me, but that was the game plan, to come out early strong and wear him down and knock him out. I got him with body shots, and then I hit him in the head, and then knocked him out.”

Cotto, who was betting beat up pretty bad, seemed to be in really bad shape in the 11th. He was being beaten like a drum, as he bled all-over and was visibly woozy before his corner stepped in and called the fight.

Afterwards, a gracious Cotto addressed the media: “I am very proud and very happy I was able to give the fans a great fight… life continues. It’s not over for me. I’m going to take a long rest, decide what to do next. This night was Margarito’s night. He’s an excellent fighter. He did his job better than I did.”

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