Boxing: Cotto defeats Margarito in rematch

NEW YORK: Miguel Cotto retained his WBA junior middleweight title after easily stopping challenger Antonio Margarito, who was unable to continue because of a badly swollen right eye. The 31-year-old Puerto Rican champion improved to 37-2-0 with a dominating technical knockout victory at a sold-out Madison Square Garden as he avenged a controversial loss to Margarito three years ago. Ring doctor Anthony Curreri stepped in to halt the fight in between the ninth and 10th rounds. Cotto savored the victory over his bitter rival by staring down Margarito after the stoppage. “I’m here with all my crowd and all my people,” said Cotto. “He means nothing to me.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2011.