Antonio Margarito on Miguel Cotto: "I will beat him down, there will not be a decision. I am going to knock him out."
Bob Arum said Julio Cesar Chavez could fight Brian Vera next, and eventually, Andre Ward.
Margarito vows to silence crowd, KO Cotto earlier
|
NEW YORK -- Ex-titleholder Antonio Margarito vowed to silence his rival's partisan fans and to knock out Miguel Cotto earlier than he did in their initial meeting when they face each other in Saturday night's HBO Pay Per View-televised rematch at Madison Square Garden. Cotto (36-2, 29 knockouts) is THE RING's No. 1-rated junior middleweight as well as the WBA's beltholder. Cotto was an unbeaten WBA welterweight titleholder when Margarito (38-7, 27 KOs) vanquished him by 11th-round knockout in July of 2008. "I'm not sure what round it will be, but it will be the same as the first fight," said Margarito. "I will beat him down, there will not be a decision. I am going to knock him out. It will be earlier than the first fight." The 31-year-old Cotto, of Caguas, Puerto Rico, is immensely popular and a fan favorite in New York, where is 8-0 with four knockouts overall, and, 6-0 at Madison Square Garden. "By the third or fourth round, his fans in the crowd will be silent," said Magarito, who is 1-0 with a first-round stoppage at The Garden. "They'll be very quiet, believe me." A sellout crowd of 17,943 is expected on Saturday night at MSG, where Cotto has decisioned former world titleholders Shane Mosley, Joshua Clottey and Paulie Malignaggi, and knocked out Zab Judah. It is the second time a Cotto card has sold out at The Garden, with the first time being his 11th-round knockout of Judah on June 9 of 2007.
MIGUEL COTTO'S FIGHTS IN NEW YORK:
Lem Satterfield can be reached at lem.satterfield@gmail.com |