Saturday, July 26, 2008

Margarito stuns Cotto for welterweight crown

KEVIN IOLE’S UNOFFICIAL SCORECARD
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total
Miguel Cotto 10 10 10 9 10 10 9 9 9 10 L

Antonio Margarito 9 9 9 10 9 9 10 10 10 9 TKO


ROUND 1
Crowd is resoundingly favoring the challenger, Antonio Margarito, as fight begins. Kenny Bayless is the referee. The judges are Glen Hamada, Jerry Roth and Dave Moretti, all veterans. Cotto opens with a bunch of jabs. Cotto misses a hook. Margarito is moving forward but not throwing. Double jab by Cotto connects. Good combination to the head by Cotto. Left hook by Margarito. Right hand by Cotto lands. Margarito needs to get busy. Halfway through the round and he’s only thrown a handful of shots. Another hard combination lands by Cotto. Right to the body by Cotto. Four-punch combination by Cotto. Margarito lands a hook that backs Cotto to the corner. Straight right by Margarito. Left hook by Cotto to chin. Chopping right by Margarito. Left hook by Cotto. Cotto is looking good. Cotto warned for a low blow. Double jab by Cotto lands.
Iole scores it 10-9, Cotto


ROUND 2
Right hand by Cotto connects. Cotto flicks a jab. Margarito bouncing on his toes. Jab and then a four-punch combination by Cotto. Margarito misses badly over the top. Right to the head and left to the body by Margarito. Jab-right hand by Cotto. Cotto lands hard off the rope sand then a big uppercut. Margarito smiles. Right by Margarito. Action is fast now. Margarito backs Cotto to a corner with a right. Jab-right by Margarito. Good right counter by Cotto. Cotto’s nose is bleeding. Combination to the body by Margarito. Bayless warns Margarito about low blows. Big right hand by Cotto. Good round. Left to the body by Margarito. Combination by Cotto. Big left hook from Cotto just before the bell. Close round.
Iole scores it 10-9, Cotto


ROUND 3
Cotto lands two shots to the head as the round starts. Margarito lands a right. Hook inside by Cotto. Four-punch combination to the head by Cotto. Left hook inside by Cotto as Margarito lands a right. Hook to the body by Margarito. Left to the ribs by Cotto. Uppercut by Cotto connects. Cotto is utilizing a lot of movement. Lead right by Cotto. Margarito warned for a low blow again. Counter left by Cotto. Margarito lands on the hip, warned for a third time. Cotto is angry. Left hook by Cotto. Good flurry in the corner.
Iole scores it 10-9, Cotto


ROUND 4
The crowd is really into it. It’s been a good action fight so far. They exchange in the center. Chopping right by Margarito lands. Hard right uppercut by Cotto. Counter left by Cotto. Left uppercut by Margarito. Right to the body by Margarito. Cotto’s nose is bleeding again. Hard jab by Cotto. Three-punch combination to the head by Cotto. Bayless urges them to watch the head butts. Right by Margarito. Left hook by Cotto. Hard left to the body by Margarito. Good counter to fight off the ropes by Cotto.
Iole scores it 10-9, Margarito


ROUND 5
They exchange jabs to open the round. Hard jab by Cotto. Left hook by Margarito and then a straight right hand. Good uppercut by Cotto. It’s a good punch for him in this fight. Double jab by Cotto. Right to the body by Margarito. Three-punch combination to the head by Cotto. Double jab by Cotto. Jab by Cotto. Left hook and hard right behind it by Cotto. Another left uppercut by Cotto. They trade rights. Good right by Cotto on the ropes.
Iole scores it 10-9, Cotto


ROUND 6
Jab by Cotto. Left hook by Cotto and a right by Margarito. Margarito has swelling around his left eye. Hard shots to the body by Margarito. Right inside by Margarito. Right hand by Cotto. Four-punch combination to the head by Cotto. They’re trading on the ropes. Right to the head and left to the body by Cotto. Right and then an uppercut by Cotto. Cotto lands another hard uppercut. Two lefts inside by Margarito. Left-right by Cotto. Double shot to the body and then a shot to the head. Margarito lands a right in the corner.
Iole scores it 10-9, Cotto


ROUND 7
Margarito lands a jab and then a right. Cotto lands a combination. Margarito throws a lot of punches on the ropes, but Cotto blocks most. Left uppercut by Margarito. Hard lead right by Cotto. Double uppercut by Margarito. Cotto holds on. He may be hurt. Cotto fires a left and Margarito lands three shots. Right inside by Margarito. Left and then a right by Margarito. Cotto is hanging on. Cotto moves to the center and Margarito lands a left. Right and then a jab by Cotto. Short left hook inside by Cotto. Margarito lands a good left in the corner. Cotto’s face is bloody, mostly from his nose. Left to the body and right to the head by Margarito. Jab-right hand by Cotto. Left and and then a right by Margarito. Big round for Margarito.
Iole scores it 10-9, Margarito


ROUND 8
Both fighters’ faces are showing the wear of a hard fight. Hard jab by Cotto, who is circling. Margarito doing a good job of cutting off his exit. They trade on the ropes. Uppercut by Cotto. Left hook by Cotto. They’re warned for using their heads. Jab by Cotto. Right hand by Cotto. Right by Margarito. Left hand by Cotto. Margarito keeps coming. Right and then a good left by Margarito. Cotto lands a left, but Margarito lands a combination that pushes Cotto into the ropes. Left inside by Margarito. Left and a right by Cotto and a right by Margarito.
Iole scores it 10-9, Margarito


ROUND 9
Left and a right by Cotto. Margarito slips. Jab by Cotto Good right by Cotto. Combination by Cotto. Left hook and right hand by Cotto. Sharp right by Margarito. Good body work by Margarito on the ropes. Two lefts and a right by Margarito. Cotto appears weary. Right hand by Cotto. Cotto is spitting blood. Combination by Margarito as Cotto backs to the ropes. Three-punch combination to the head by Cotto, but nothing seems to bother Margarito.
Iole scores it 10-9, Margarito


ROUND 10
Hard jab by Cotto to open the round. They trade ineffective punches in the corner. Jab and right hand by Cotto. Left-right by Cotto. Two rights and then a left by Cotto. Left hook inside by Cotto. Shots inside by Cotto. Margarito lands a right. Three-punch combination to the head by Cotto. Double hook to the body and then right to the head by Cotto. Left by Cotto. Two shots to the body by Margarito. Left and then a right by Margarito wobble Cotto. Margarito lands a left and Cotto comes back with a right. Margarito’s rally makes this a very difficult round to score.
Iole scores it 10-9, Cotto


ROUND 11
Left hook by Cotto. Margarito lets fly a combination. Margarito lands a right. Good counter right-left by Cotto. Left hook by Margarito. Margarito lands a left. Cotto seems to be hurt. Right uppercut and Cotto takes a knee. Cotto is cut by the left eye. Cotto is in big, big trouble. There’s a minute left. Cotto is down again from a combination. Cotto’s corner stops it at 2:05.
Margarito is the new WBA welterweight champion.

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