Miguel Cotto vs Antonio Margarito

Odds - Analysis - Prediction

7/26/08

By Ryan Patterson

The shoes of Floyd Mayweather will be nearly impossible to fill. One of the top candidates is Miguel Cotto. Miguel is from Puerto Rico, and fought for his country in the 1999 Pan American Games, and the 2000 Olympics. He has established a perfect record of 32-0 with 26 knockouts in his professional career. One man will seek to blemish his record for the first time. This mans name is Antonio Margarito. Let's take a look at both fighters along with the odds on the fight followed by a prediction.

Margito compiled a record 18-3 as an amateur boxer. He quickly turned professional in 1994 for financial reasons. He got his first professional victory over Jose Trujillo. After a rock start Margito would go to win 20 bouts in a row, including victories over Julio Cesar Chavez, and Frankie Randall. In 2005 he retained his WBO welterweight title against Kermit Cintron. Margarito would end up losing his belt to the undefeated Paul Williams in a unanimous decision that wasn’t without controversy. Margito has out punched a nearly 2-1 ratio, throwing over 100 punches per round. The judges thought Williams had the more meaningful hits. Nine months after this he would engage in a rematch with Kermit Cintron, scoring a knockout in the sixth round, and capturing the IBF welterweight belt Cintron had won since their last bout. With a record of 36 wins, 5 losses, and 26 knockouts, Antontio Margarito is ready for the big time. He is ready to fight Miguel Cotto.

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Cotto is currently ranked as the sixth best pound for pound fighter in the world by Ring Magazine. In September of 2004 Cotto faced Kelson Pinto for the vacant WBO junior welterweight title. The two had met twice as amateurs, with Pinto taking both events. Showing how much he had progressed, Cotto scored the knockout in the sixth round. Cotto would defend his title several times before making the jump to welterweight. He would go on to defeat Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA welterweight title. Cotto scored a TKO in the fifth round. He would then defeat Sugar Shane Mosley. Cotto was the agressor for much of the fight, and scored a clear victory. This victory was significant because Mosley is such a good fighter. He is the only man to have defeated Oscar De La Hoya twice. He has also won titles in three divisions. Cotto would then have an easy title defense against Alfonso Gomez. He would then be named “Boxer of the Year” by the World Boxing Assocation. Miguel Cotto hasn't slipped up yet, and he is ready to take on Antonio Margarito. Their fight for the WBA welterweight title will go down on July 26.

While it will be a good fight, its hard to bet against Miguel Cotto. He has been phenomenal thus far, and may be the best boxer in the game right now. Tabbed at odds of -220, which isn’t all that bad. While he probably wont walk home with this win, he should take it with a fair amount of ease. Antonio Margarito has been placed at odds of +180. I’m ready for this rumble.