The Neutral Corner

Miguel Cotto, left, battles Antonio Margarito

Maybe Floyd Mayweather Jr. was on to something? Sugar Shane Mosley too. Both of these future Hall-of-Famers turned down fights against Antonio Margarito.

Give Miguel Cotto credit. He took a fight that many top boxers avoided. But he ended up paying a stiff price, a punishing TKO loss that cost him his WBA welterweight title. Margarito stopped Cotto in the 11th round Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden. He dropped Cotto twice and
the champion's corner stopped the fight with 55 seconds left in the round.

(Click through photos of the Antonio Margarito-Miguel Cotto fight here)

Cotto was 32-0 entering the fight and had been extremely impressive since moving up in weight and capturing the WBA welterweight title in December of 2006. The rise from 140 pounds seemed to invigorate his career.

But at the end of the day, Margarito (37-5) was bigger and stronger. He turned pro at the age of 15 in Mexico and always fought near the welterweight limit (147). In fact, some of his fights came at 154 pounds. In contrast, Cotto turned pro at lightweight (135 pounds). Margarito is the more natural welterweight and that was the difference.

The one fault in Cotto the fighter always appeared to be his chin. And while he withstood some heavy shots, Margarito's power and relentless attack was too much for him to take. Margarito, however, was able to absorb all of Cotto's power.

The win moves Margarito into position to face Oscar De La Hoya in what could be the final fight of Oscar's career. There was speculation that Cotto would be that opponent, now the most obvious choice in Margarito. Oscar has fought nearly every great fighters of his era (aside from Winky Wright), it will be interesting to see if he is a bit more selective when it comes to Margarito. -- CASSIDY