Boxing Tickets: “The Battle” Cotto v Margarito on Sale Thursday

The Battle is on! Welterweight superpowers Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito square-off in a compelling and eagerly-awaited world title fight to determine the division’s top dog and arguably boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. “The Battle!” / “La Batalla!” — the pay-per-view extravaganza — headlined by the Cotto vs. Margarito World Welterweight Championship, will take place Saturday, July 26, at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Promoted by Top Rank, the fight will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT.

Tickets, priced at $700, $500, $400, $300, $200 and $100, go on sale this Thursday, May 22, at 10 a.m. PT They can be purchased at the MGM Grand Garden Arena box office and at all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, Macy’s West at the Fashion Show Mall, and Ritmo Latino.) Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000 or MGM Grand at (800) 929-1111. Tickets are also available for purchase at www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com

This marks the first time Cotto has fought in Las Vegas since 2004 where he knocked out Randall Bailey in the sixth round, en route to successfully defending his WBO Junior Welterweight Title for the first time.

“I am thrilled to finally be fighting Antonio Margarito, in the biggest fight of my career, in Las Vegas, the fight capital of the world,” said Cotto. “I am a fighting champion, which means not only staying active, but staying active against the best fighters man enough to stand up to me. Like Shane Mosley and Zab Judah before him, Antonio Margarito represents the biggest challenge of my career. And like Mosley and Judah, Margarito will leave the ring second best. I can’t wait to get to him.”

Margarito returns to Las Vegas for the first time in more than two years where he knocked out Manuel Gomez in the first round in defense of his WBO Welterweight Title during his first title reign.

“I have wanted this fight against Cotto for so long,” said Margarito. “I am going to make that ring a pressure cooker for him. I will be in one gear for our fight – forward. I will wear him down, break him down and knock him out. July 26 can’t come fast enough for me.”

Promoter Bob Arum believes this fight will be a big one and stated, “Cotto vs. Margarito is such a compelling fight because both champions bring so many powerful assets into it. They are both in their prime, at the top of their game, and they are fighting with so much at stake professionally and personally. Every fight they have fought has been a buildup to this exciting showdown and soon we will find out which one is the world’s best welterweight. This is more than just a world title fight. It’s a mandate.”

Mark Taffet of HBO PPV agreed saying, “Cotto-Margarito is a premier match-up between two of the best and toughest welterweights in the world today. It’s the type of head-to-head, toe-to-toe championship battle that fight fans love.”

President of Sports & Entertainment for MGM MIRAGE, Richard Sturm, said, “We are thrilled to be working with Top Rank on this championship fight. I can’t think of a better way to heat up the summer than by watching the war between these two great champions at MGM GRAND in July.”

Cotto 32-0 (26) from Caguas, Puerto Rico, a two-division world champion, won the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship in September 2004, knocking out undefeated contender Kelson Pinto for the vacant title. He successfully defended the belt six times during his two-year reign, before vacating it to challenge undefeated contender Carlos Quintana. He stopped him in the fifth round to capture the WBA Welterweight crown in December 2006. Cotto has successfully defended it four times, going the distance only once.

Margarito 36-5 (26) from Tijuana, Mexico, is a two-time welterweight champion. He knocked out Antonio Diaz in the 10th round to capture the vacant WBO title in March 2002. He successfully defended it seven times during his five-year reign before losing it to Paul Williams in July 2007 via a close 12-round decision. He captured the IBF title in his most recent fight on April 12, knocking out defending champion Kermit Cintron in the sixth round.

The Cotto vs. Margarito pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 71 million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Cotto vs. Margarito fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.