Ringside Report: Cotto & Margarito Pave the Way to July Showdown

Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City NJ the fans were treated to a showcase and a slugfest. Miguel Cotto 32-0 (26) proved to be on a different level than Alfonso Gomez 18-4 (8) while Antonio Margarito 36-5 (26) proved he is still an immovable force in the Welterweight division by knocking out Kermit Cintron 29-2 (27).

In the main event Cotto, the WBA Welterweight Champion showed why he is at the top of the division by out-boxing, out-landing and outclassing his game challenger, Gomez.

Cotto came out in the first round swinging, landing shots to the head and body of Gomez.

What was most evident was Cotto’s power, each shot that landed backed up Gomez every time he connected. Not to say that Cotto has ever come into a fight unconfident but his demeanor seemed different from past fights appearing relaxed and very confident as he boxed and landed combinations.

Toward the end of the first round Gomez fell to the canvas from a left hook from Cotto that missed, seemingly off balance as he ducked under the punch. Cotto ended the round comfortably switching between a southpaw and an orthodox stance while landing combination

During the next two rounds the face of Gomez was already showing signs of wear and tear from the Cotto onslaught who continued to land combinations accurately using every punch in his arsenal, straight rights, left hooks and uppercuts.

In the third round with less than tens seconds left to go Cotto landed a vicious body shot followed up by a left hook that dropped Gomez to the canvas. The referee’s count continued past the bell signifying the end of the round as Gomez bravely rose to his feet beating the count and refusing to give up. Between rounds the doctor came to the corner of Gomez to examine him and allowed the fight to continue.

In the fourth round Gomez moved around the ring with his right hand seemingly glued to the side of his face and arm guarding his right side trying to protect his face and body from further attack. Gomez was now taking unbelievable punishment with Cotto fighting on a completely other level. Cotto was able to see everything Gomez was throwing; blocking, ducking and beating Gomez to the punch.

In between rounds the doctor again went to the corner of Gomez letting him know he was taking too much punishment and he would let him have one more round to show him something. Compubox figures would later indicate that Cotto landed sixty shots in the fourth round.

The fifth round ended up being a continuation of the forth, Gomez’s face now even more red and battered tried to fight on but was just exhausted falling to the canvas from a single jab from Cotto. Gomez made it through the round only to have the doctor stop the fight before the sixth round could begin, not wanting him to take any further punishment.

The final Compubox punch stats were astonishing with Cotto landing 188 of 369 total punches (51%) and 125 of 213 power punches (59%). Gomez landed 63 of 316 total punches (20%) and 46 of 143 power punches (32%).

In the co-feature Cintron, the IBF Welterweight Champion hoped to redeem himself against Margarito who handed him his only loss in his professional career, systematically breaking him down in their first match. Although the improved Cintron fought much better than their first outing, landing several hard shots it was not near enough to stop the forward momentum and workmanship activity of Margarito.

Cintron and Margarito both traded power punches in the first round, Margarito while pressing forward and landing combinations was stopped in his tracks by a strong right from Cintron. It was a close round to score with Margarito appearing to land more punches but Cintron the more powerful shots.

The second round was a slightly slower start, Cintron tried to box from the outside but Margarito kept coming forward smothering Cintron’s punches. Margarito worked well on the inside landing with short body shots and uppercuts. Unlike the first round even though Cintron was able to land some hard shots and cut Margarito over the eye he was not able to stop Margarito’s forward movement.

In the third round Cintron was able to move forward then take a step back to get the range he was looking for with his power punches. Margarito was warned by the referee for hitting to the back of the head when Cintron bent at the waist to avoid a shot and Margarito followed throw with a straight right to the back of his head while Cintron had ducked forward.

Seconds after the first warning from the referee, a similar situation occurred with Cintron ducking forward and without the referee stopping the action, he turned towards the referee to complain while Margarito took advantage and attacked Cintron with a barrage of punches.

Margarito’s cut over his eye seemed to worsen at the beginning of the fourth round; Cintron started off well landing combinations. Margarito continued to move forward fighting on the inside as it became evident that Cintron was backing away straight rather than using any lateral movement. Margarito had a strong round landing combinations and using good angles.

Cintron tried boxing from the outside in the fifth round landing some soft jabs and measuring also landing several hard rights to which Margarito replied by smiling and nodding his head as he continued forward. Margarito worked the body and head of Cintron well cutting him over the right eye. Cintron complained again of being hit to the back of the head to which the referee again warned Margarito.

In the sixth round Cintron was unsuccessful at working from the outside as Margarito continued to close the distance. With Cintron on the ropes Margarito attacked the head and body landing a jab, straight right to the head and a devastating left to the body that dropped Cintron to the canvas. As Cintron was on his hands and knees unable to beat the count Margarito stood in the neutral corner gesturing his arms upwards and yelling at Cintron to get up with the fight ending at 1:57 of the round.

The final Compubox punch stats showed the high level activity of both fighters; Margarito landed 251 or 611 punches (42%) and 207 of 451 power punches (46%), while Cintron landed 136 of 451 total punches (30%) and 89 of 209 power punches (43%).

The victories for Cotto and Margarito have paved the way for the two of them to have a showdown on July 26 which promises to be an incredible match up. Both Top Rank fighters continue to take on the best challenges and as Bob Arum puts it, “Top Rank fighters fight.”