Miguel Cotto vs Alfonso Gomez plus Kermit Cintron vs Antonio Margarito official on-site programme SIGNED BY ALL 4 FIGHTERS, billed "A Defender. A Contender. No Pretenders" 12th April 2008, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ.

Condition mint

Cotto W retired 5th round

Cotto staggered Gomez with a body shot at the end of round one. Gomez down in round two (flash knockdown).
Cotto dropped Gomez with a left hook to the body in round three. Gomez down in round five from a jab. The fight was stopped on the advice of the ring doctor before the start of the sixth round.


Margarito W KO 6

Margarito knocked out Cintron with a vicious left hook to the body. Margarito suffered a small cut over his left eye.
Cintron suffered a cut over his right eye.

Price: £165

Miguel Ángel Cotto (born October 29, 1980 in Caguas, Puerto Rico). Former World Boxing Organization Light Welterweight champion and is the current World Boxing Association Welterweight champion. Cotto is currently ranked seventh in the world on the pound-for-pound rankings of The Ring magazine. As an amateur, Cotto represented Puerto Rico in the Lightweight and Light Welterweight divisions at various international events including the 1999 Pan American Games, the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 1998 Junior World Championships where he finished 2nd. Cotto began his professional career in 2001, and on September 11, 2004 he defeated Kelson Pinto for the WBO Junior Welterweight Championship. He defended the title successfully a total of six times before vacating it when he ascended to the Welterweight division. In his first fight in this division he defeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA Welterweight Championship. Cotto has successfully defended this title against Oktay Urkal, Zab Judah, Shane Mosley, and Alfonso Gómez.

Cotto was born and raised in Caguas, with several figures linked to boxing in his family, including his father Miguel Cotto Sr., his brother José Miguel Cotto, his second cousin Abner Cotto and his uncle and boxing trainer Evangelista Cotto. He is married to Melissa Guzmán with whom he has two children, Alondra and Miguel Cotto III. Cotto has a daughter outside of this marriage with another woman, who was born in November 2006.On May 29, 2007 Cotto solicited a Protection Order against the mother of his child. The order was granted and it prevented her from gaining access to Cotto's house in the "Valle del Turabo" sector of Caguas, Puerto Rico and the Bairoa Gym, where he usually trains for his fights. The case was dropped on June 14, 2007 when Cotto attended a citation and asked judge Bernardo Solá to lift the Protection Order.

As a child, Cotto was taken to the Bairoa Gym in Caguas. There, he was able to develop into a top amateur fighter who won several international competitions and represented Puerto Rico at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. After being eliminated from those games in the first classificatory round, Cotto decided to turn professional.
Cotto participated in several international tournaments, these include: The 1998 Junior World Championships that took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he finished in second place while competing in the Lightweight division. His three victories here were by points, the results were: Andrey Kolevin of Ukraine by points 15-3; Dana Laframboise of Canada by points 6-1, and Darius Jasevicius representing Lithuania 9-5. His only loss was to Anton Solopov of Russia by points with a score of 8-9. In 1999, Cotto competed in the Pan American Games that took place in Winnipeg, Canada. He only fought once in a loss to Dana Laframboise of Canada by points with a final score of 2-5. Following his participation in the Pan American tournament, Cotto was part of the Boxing World Championships in Houston, Texas. He lost his only fight by points to Robertas Nomeikas. In his final amateur tournament, Cotto represented Puerto Rico as a Light Welterweight at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games where he lost to Mahamadkadir Abdullayev of Uzbekistan by points.

Early in his career Cotto defeated former world title contender John Brown by decision in the tenth round, he led through the entire fight and scored a knockdown in the second round. The judges gave Cotto scores of 100-89 twice and 100-88. Miguel also won a fight against former world champion Cesar "Cobrita" Soto by knockout in the eleventh round. In 2001, Cotto suffered a dangerous injury that threatened his boxing career. As he was driving to the gymnasium at 5 a.m. in the morning one day, he apparently fell asleep and had an accident, breaking his arm and requiring hospitalisation.

On September 13, 2003, Cotto defeated Demetrio Ceballos by knockout in the seventh round at Las Vegas. In a fight where Cotto punished Ceballos with numerous combinations in the sixth round, switching between the orthodox and southpaw stances. In the seventh round Cotto displayed an aggressive style that led to the referee stopping the fight with 0:32 remaining in the round. With this, he was ranked number one in his division by the WBA. Cotto's first fight of 2004 was a fourth round knockout victory over the former world title contender Victoriano Sosa. This was after an eventful week prior to the fight, which included Cotto having to wait four hours for his luggage to arrive (after a 2 a.m. local time arrival) at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, and almost being removed from the Mandalay Bay Hotel, where the fight was held at, by a security guard who thought he was an unaccompanied minor. On April 8, 2004 he defeated the former world title challenger, Lovemore Ndou, by unanimous decision in Las Vegas. The first three rounds of the fight had a slow pace with neither of the boxers establishing control of the fight. Cotto dominated the fourth and fifth rounds managing to land combinations on Ndou's head. Ndou won the seventh and eighth rounds after landing more accurate hits than Cotto. The last three rounds were even with both fighters establishing short periods of control in the fight. The judges gave Cotto scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 115-113.

On September 11, 2004 Cotto faced Kelson Pinto from Brazil, for the vacant WBO junior welterweight title. This represented the third fight between them, with Pinto being victorious in their two previous encounters, both of which took place while they were still amateurs. The fight was televised by HBO from San Juan, Puerto Rico. During this fight Cotto showed defensive smarts with his hands held high instead of his usual aggressive orthodox stance. Over the course of the fight Cotto scored three knockdowns and won the World Boxing Organization Junior Welterweight Championship by knockout in the sixth round. On December 11, 2004 he successfully defended his title, beating former world champion Randall Bailey by knockout in the sixth round, as part of the Vitali Klitschko-Danny Williams undercard in Las Vegas. Cotto's performance was described as a result of hand speed and accuracy. During the fight Bailey received punches to the head that opened cuts over and under both of his eyes. As a result of the cuts Bailey was examined by the ringside physician. Following this Bailey expressed that he didn't want to continue and the referee stopped the fight at 1:39 of the sixth round. Eleven days later, on December 22, 2004 the Puerto Rican boxing commission named Cotto as Puerto Rico's fighter of the year for 2004. Cotto's second title defence took place on February 26, 2005 in the Rubén Rodríguez in Bayamón, Puerto Rico against Demarcus Corley. During the fight Cotto was more aggressive than usual, trading blows with Corley over the course of the first round. During the fight both boxers were deducted one point following illegal low blows. Cotto scored three knockdowns before the fight was stopped by the referee at 2:45 of the fifth round following a combination by Miguel. Corley claimed that the referee stopped the fight prematurely stating that "the ref just stopped the fight premature. If he wanted to stop the fight, he could have stopped it when I had Cotto hurt." Just a few days after retaining the crown versus Corley, Cotto received a personal blow, when his stable-mate and friend, former 2004 Olympian Joseph Serrano, was shot in the head upon leaving the Bairoa gym. Serrano survived the shot, but was in critical but stable condition at a local hospital. On June 11, 2005 Cotto faced the last man to beat him as an amateur, former Olympic gold medalist Mohamed Abdulaev from Uzbekistan. As amateurs, Abdulaev eliminated Cotto from the first round of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. This time they met as professionals in New York City's Madison Square Garden. Before the beginning of the fight Cotto received a positive ovation from the public. During the first round Miguel went on the offensive scoring hits on Abdullaev's head and body while he was in a defensive stance. In the fourth round a left hook by Miguel hurt Abdullaev, who proceeded to focus his hits on Cotto's body. Abdullaev's offence was effective in the sixth and seventh rounds and as a result of this Cotto went on the defensive. Following the eighth round Abdullaev's eye was swollen to the point of being almost entirely closed. In the ninth round following accurate punches by Cotto the fight's referee paused the fight and asked the ringside doctor to examine Abdullaev's eye. After being examined by the doctor Abdullaev indicated to the referee that he could not continue, this way Cotto retained the Welterweight division championship.

Miguel's third championship defence took place on September 24, 2005 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, against Ricardo Torres of Colombia. In the first round Cotto scored a knockdown. In the second round after trading blows Torres scored a knockdown. The last seconds of the round were evenly matched with both fighters finishing the round badly shaken. Cotto was apparently in better condition when the third round began and was dominating the fight at that point. With two minutes remaining in the round one of Cotto's punches landed borderline. Following this Torres was granted thirty seconds to recover by the referee. Cotto dominated the fourth round and Torres won the fifth. Cotto won and scored a knockdown in the sixth round. At 1:24 of the seventh round a left hook by Cotto knocked Torres out. On March 4, 2006, Cotto defended his WBO Junior Welterweight title by knocking out Gianluca Branco, who had given up during the eighth round of their bout due to a shoulder injury. Cotto dominated the fight as a result of a strong and accurate jab in a card that took place in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Cotto's next scheduled fight was against the then-undefeated Paul Malignaggi in a fight that took place on June 10, 2006 in Madison Square Garden. Cotto opened a cut over Malignaggi's right eye in the first round, which, according to Malignaggi, affected his performance over the course of the fight, by stating "this was the first time in which I was cut, and the blood kept going into my eye. And it bothered me the entire fight. I was not able to see very well. Cotto's a great fighter, but I'm disappointed, as I wanted to be the champion". Cotto won the fight by unanimous decision with scores of 116-111 and 115-112. Malignaggi suffered a fractured right orbital bone and his jaw was injured, he was taken to Roosevelt Hospital after the fight's outcome was announced.

Cotto relinquished his title in late 2006 and announced his intention to move to the Welterweight division to challenge Carlos Quintana for a major title. The fight took place on December 2, 2006. Cotto defeated Quintana by technical knockout in the fifth round. Following a shot to the body, Quintana surrendered prior to the start of the sixth round and Cotto won the vacant World Boxing Association Welterweight Championship. Cotto's Welterweight reign began successfully on March 3, 2007 when he retained his belt with a technical knock out victory in the eleventh round over Oktay Urkal. Urkal's corner threw in the towel because he was apparently down in the fight, and had just had a second point deducted for a head butt, leading to his corner's belief that the referee was unfair. On June 9, 2007 Cotto defended the WBA Welterweight Title against Zab Judah in New York City before a sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. The bout included two low blows by Cotto (which led to a point deduction) and at stoppage had Cotto leading 97-91. Cotto won by technical knockout in the eleventh round when the referee stopped the fight. Judah argued that the illegal blows played a role in his defeat. "He hit me hard twice and the referee didn't do anything about it," he said. "I thought they were intentional. Those low blows took a lot out of me. I want a rematch," added Judah. Judah made numerous claims including a biased referee. Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley fought on November 10, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in a card made possible by a legal settlement between Top Rank Boxing, Cotto's promoter, and Mosley's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions. The fight was broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View and was won by Cotto via unanimous decision. During the course of the fight Cotto pursued Mosley who was reacting in a slow fashion. Late in the fight Mosley displayed more aggression at one point becoming the aggressor. Cotto's performance was described as "a rare moment in sports when a sudden star rises from what is categorically termed as goodness, to the cusp of greatness." On April 12, 2008, Cotto successfully defended the championship against Alfonso Gómez. Throughout the fight Cotto scored three knockdowns before the fight was stopped following the fifth round, when the doctor indicated to the referee that Gómez couldn't continue.






Antonio Margarito (born March 18, 1978) from Tijuana, Mexico. He is currently the IBF Welterweight champion. Margarito is also a former WBO world Welterweight champion.

Margarito compiled a record of 18-3 in his relatively brief amateur career, indicating that he turned pro quickly because he needed the money

On January 14, 1994, he beat Jose Trujillo in Tijuana by decision over four rounds, to make his professional debut. On April 25, he achieved his first knockout win, defeating Victor Angulo in the second round. On October 17, however, he suffered his first defeat, to Victor Lozoya, by decision over six. Over the course of his next six bouts, he lost two. However, he went onto a winning streak after that loss that has so far, reached twenty wins in a row, not including his fight with Daniel Santos, which ended in a no contest. Before getting to fight with Santos, he beat such fighters as Alfred Ankamah, Juan Soberanes and former Julio César Chávez rivals Buck Smith, David Kamau and Frankie Randall, a former World Jr. welterweight champion who became the first man to beat Chávez in 91 fights. On July 21, 2001, he received his first world title shot, against southpaw Santos, for the WBO world Welterweight crown, at Bayamon, Puerto Rico's Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum. The fight had to be stopped in the first round as a consequence of a clash of heads that opened deep gashes on both fighters and sent them both to a nearby hospital. Because the fight had not gone over four rounds or more for a technical decision to be awarded, it was declared a no contest, and Santos retained the belt but without adding a loss to Margarito's record.

Santos then vacated the WBO world Welterweight title to go up in weight and pursue the WBO's world Jr. Middleweight championship, and Margarito was assigned to fight Antonio Diaz for the vacant world crown, in front of an HBO Boxing audience. On March 16, 2002, Margarito crowned himself world champion by beating Diaz by knockout in round ten. He defended that crown with a decision in twelve over Danny Perez and a knockout in two over former WBA world champion Andrew Lewis. Lewis was a southpaw and a hard puncher, but had been exposed as having a weak chin. Margarito proved that he has a world class chin. He publicly asked for a unification bout with then WBC and WBA world champion Ricardo Mayorga. Mayorga was regarded as the "real" champion by independent magazines (as Ring Magazine ) , he had KO'd Lewis before. This unification never happened, however.
At this point Margarito considered going up in weight, to try to lure Fernando Vargas, Oscar de la Hoya or Shane Mosley into a lucrative fight, or Santos into a rematch at the Jr. Middleweight division. On October 17, 2003, Margarito made his Jr. Middleweight division debut with a two round knockout win over Maurice Brantley in Phoenix, Arizona. On January 31, 2004, and back at the Welterweight division, he retained his title with a second round knockout of Canada's Hercules Kyvelos, who was undefeated until then. Margarito did face Daniel Santos in a rematch on September 11 of the same year, at the Jose Miguel Agrelot Coliseum in San Juan, for Santos' WBO world Jr. Middleweight title. The rematch also ended because of a headbutt, but this time, as the fight had already reached the four rounds mark that is needed for fights like these to be decided by judges, Margarito lost by a split ten round technical decision. He was down on two scorecards when the fight was stopped.
In his next fight, April 23 of 2005, Margarito retained his WBO world Welterweight title against another Puerto Rican, undefeated world class puncher Kermit Cintron, dropping him four times on his way to a fifth round knockout. This was regarded as one of his best wins but Floyd Mayweather is still ranked as #1 and the man to beat at welter weight by all magazines. After almost a ten month layoff, Margarito returned to the boxing ring on February 18, 2006, retaining his title with a first round knockout of Manuel Gomez, who had lasted eleven rounds with Mosley for the IBF world Lightweight title eight and a half years before. On December 2, 2006, Margarito defeated Joshua Clottey via a twelve round unanimous decision. Margarito set a Compubox all-time record of 1675 total punches thrown in a twelve round bout.

On July 14, 2007, Margarito lost a unanimous 12 round decision to undefeated challenger Paul Williams, losing his WBO belt. After the bout Margarito heavily disputed the decision, claiming that he had landed the most meaningful punches. Williams, however, landed the most punches (out punching Margarito by almost a 2-1 ratio, and throwing an average of over 100 punches per round) according to compubox. On April 12, 2008, Margarito defeated Cintron for a second time by 6th round knockout capturing the IBF welterweight championship in the process. It is believed that Margarito will face Miguel Cotto on July 26 in a unification bout.
HBO cameras caught Margarito taunting Cintron after Cintron went down for the last time of their rematch. Margarito shouted at Kermit to get up while the referee counted above him. Cintron went down from what seemed to be the notoriously debilitating liver shot that body-punching fighters like Margarito often look for. HBO commentator Jim Lampley seemed fascinated by Margarito's zeal in the ring, drawing the viewing audience's attention to it as they replayed Margarito's taunting later on.