Antonio Margarito & Miguel Cotto.
NEW YORK (AP)
Miguel Cotto battered a one-eyed Antonio Margarito over nine lopsided rounds then won a TKO decision amid confusion in the corner before they came out for the 10th on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Cotto (37-2-0) earned a punishing measure of payback for his loss to Margarito three years ago. With the New York crowd going wild for the Puerto Rican Cotto, he was never seriously threatened and retained his 154-pound title, shuttering Maragarito's right eye to cause the stoppage.
Margarito beat Cotto in July 2008, only to later have his career and reputation tarnished when he used illegal hand wraps before a loss to Shane Mosley. Margarito didn't box again for more than a year.
He needed surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone following a loss to Manny Pacquiao last year and considered retirement. The New York State Athletic Commission didn't license Margarito until Nov. 22 after ordering another examination of his eye. Cotto took quick aim on the eye and it was swollen shut in the seventh round.
Cotto believed Margarito also used illegal hand wraps in their first fight and claimed he had the photos to prove it.
Cotto stared down Margarito in his corner after the bout was stopped.
''Just to look at him and taste my victory on him,'' Cotto said. ''He means nothing to me. I'm here with all my crowd and all my people. He means nothing to me.''
The Tijuana Tornado stopped Cotto in the 11th round in Las Vegas in their first meeting. Cotto said he long resisted a rematch because he didn't want money going to an opponent who didn't fight fair.
Cotto took any issues of legality out of this one from the opening round. The sellout crowd at MSG honked horns, waved the Puerto Rico flag and absolutely went wild for all things Cotto — starting with his entrance to the opening strains of The White Stripes' ''Seven Nation Army.''
Nothing could hold Cotto back.
Margarito laughed, smiled and even taunted Cotto after suffering several big blows. His demeanor didn't help him at the end of the seventh round, when he sat on his corner stool, his right eye shut. The crowd gasped then roared as the squeamish scene flashed on the big screen.
With one eye, Margarito gamely fought on, hoping for that one brutal blow that could change the fight. Half blind, he never had a chance. Ring doctor Anthony Curreri stopped the fight because of the eye even though 3 seconds ticked off in the 10th round. The fighters never met in the center of the ring.
''It came to the point there was no vision at all from the eye,'' 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.''
Referee Steve Smoger did not know what the doctor wanted, causing confusion at the end.
Margarito insisted he could continue, though he was way behind on the scorecards.
''I told them how many numbers I had up,'' he said. ''I knew from now on they were out to protect him because I was building (momentum).''
Rios Stops Murray; Rodriguez Defeats Wolak; Jones Outpoints Lujan on Cotto-Margarito Undercard.
In a toe-to-toe slugfest, former WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios (29-0-1, 21 KOs), who lost his title on the scale Saturday, #11 John Murray (31-2, 18 KOs). By the sixth round, Rios’ attack had badly busted up Murray’s face. Murray’s woes continued when he was deducted a point for a low blow in round seven. The bout ended in round eleven when referee Earl Brown waved it off with Murray taking heavy punishment. Had Murray won, he would have claimed the vacant WBA crown. The time was 2:06.
In a rematch of their “Fight of the Year” candidate draw from earlier this year, welterweight Delvin Rodriguez (26-5-3, 14 KOs) settled the score with a clear ten round unanimous decision over Pawel Wolak (29-2-1, 19 KOs). Rodriguez battered Wolak in the final round to punctuate a 98-91, 98-91, 100-90 victory.
In an IBF eliminator, unbeaten IBF #3 welterweight Mike Jones (25-0, 18 KOs) hammered out a one-sided twelve round unanimous decision against #4 Sebastian Lujan (38-6-2, 24 KOs). Scores were 118-110, 119-109, 119-109.
Former Notre Dame champion Mike Lee moved to 8-0 with 5 KOs after a fourth round TKO of Allen Medina (9-20-1, 1 KO) in a light heavyweight bout. Time was :55.
Light heavyweight Sean Monaghan (11-0, 8 KOs) made quick work of Santos Martinez (2-3, 2 KOs), dropping him with a right in the first round before putting him down for a full-ten count in the second. Time of the stoppage was 2:56.
Unbeaten junior middleweight Glen Tapia (12-0, 6 KOs) scored a sensational second round knockout over Mike Ruiz (15-7, 7 KOs). After a competitive first, Ruiz came on aggressively in the second, banging Tapia to the ropes. But Tapia weathered the storm, coming back with a combination of his own that dropped Ruiz for a full-ten count. Time of the stoppage was 2:27.
Bantamweights: Hanzel Martinez W Maj. 4 Felipe Castaneda. Judges scorecards read 38-38 and 39-37 (twice) for Martinez. With the win, Martinez retains his unbeaten ledger, moving to 16-0 with 13 KO’s. Castaneda falls to 6-4-1 with 3.
Welterweights: Samuel Figueroa W Split 4 Ibrihim Shabazz. Figueroa knocked down late replacement Shabazz in the first before going on to win a split decision by scores of 38-37, 39-36 and 37-38.
Cotto Stops Margarito By TKO in Rematch
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