In one of the most anticipated showdowns of the year, the battle of supremacy in the welterweight division took place last night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as Mexico's Antonio Margarito made the most of his WBA title challenge to reigning champion Miguel Cotto by stopping the Puerto Rican superstar in a brutal 11th round.

Cotto clearly had established himself as the far quicker of the two during the first half of the bout as he lashed out with sharp combinations that struck Margarito at will but the oncoming Mexican proved his incredible ability to take a punch as he simply strode through Cotto's fiery efforts.

By the sixth, Cotto had slowed down as a result of his foe's constant stalking and Margarito won his first round of the bout, finding range with crunching left hooks to the body and short uppercuts on the inside.

But Cotto regained the upper hand afterward, dancing away from much of Margarito's efforts and strafing the two-time former welterweight titlist with laser-like left hook counters to the head.

The tenth saw Cotto begin to stay on the ropes instead of dancing away from trouble and was taking a lot of punishment from Margarito as a result but by the eleventh, it was all Margarito as he battered the WBA Champ into taking a knee. While Cotto regained his footing, he was in a daze and was soon was forced to a knee again by his antagonist, prompting Cotto's corner to throw in the towel at 2:05 of the 11th frame.

Margarito wins his third world title and improved to 37-5 (27), while Cotto, despite mounting one of his most impressive performances, suffers his first loss to drop to 32-1 (26).

Watch for SaddoBoxing's full report shortly from Jose Espinoza

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