Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito

The Battle

Date	July 26, 2008
Venue	MGM Grand Garden Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	WBA welterweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Miguel Cotto Antonio Margarito Nickname "Junito" "The Tijuana Tornado" Hometown Caguas, Puerto Rico Tijuana, Mexico Pre-fight record 32–0 (26 KO) 36–5 (26 KO) Age 27 years, 8 months 30 years, 4 months Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) Weight 147 lb (67 kg) 147 lb (67 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBA Welterweight Champion The Ring No. 1 Ranked Welterweight The Ring No. 6 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 2-division world champion The Ring No. 4 Ranked Welterweight 2-time former welterweight champion
Result
Margarito wins by technical knockout in round 11

Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito, billed as "The Battle", was a professional boxing match between WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and former IBF and WBO welterweight champion Antonio Margarito.^[1] The WBA welterweight title bout took place on July 26, 2008, at the MGM Grand in Paradise, Nevada, and resulted in an eleventh round technical knockout victory for Margarito. Margarito was later suspected of cheating in this bout after controversy arose over his use of hand wraps after his bout with Shane Mosley.

Both men had previously fought on April 12 and emerged victorious, thus clearing the way for a July 26 match between the two boxers. It was Cotto's first fight in Las Vegas since December 2004. According to promoter Bob Arum, the bout took place in Las Vegas to promote Cotto to a new audience while also appealing to Margarito's Mexican American fans in California. Cotto entered the fight as The Ring magazine's #1 ranked boxer in the welterweight division and #6 in their pound-for-pound rankings. Margarito entered the match as The Ring magazine's #4 ranked welterweight. Press conferences were held in Mexico, Los Angeles, New York City, and Puerto Rico to promote the world title bout.

Cotto and Margarito's aggressive boxing styles led to much praise from multiple boxing writers. Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports named it the third-best boxing match of 2008 and the fight generated 450,000 pay-per-view buys, the third-highest in 2008 for a boxing match.