Las Vegas Weekly

July 28, 2008 · 2:45 PM

Boxing battle fuels feud between rival nations

By Robin Leach

He entered the ring as the betting favorite and, with his unblemished record of 32-0, all his countrymen bet he’d wind up the winner yet again. But in the end, during the waning 55 seconds of the 11th round, Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto suffered his first-ever professional defeat and lost his World Boxing Association welterweight title to Tijuana’s Antonio Margarito.

Among the celebrities ringside at the MGM Grand boxing event were Mike Tyson, Zab Judah, Winky Wright, Boston Celtics star and NBA Finals MVP Paul Pierce (who maintains a Vegas condo) and the legendary Clyde Drexler. Ironically, many of the welterweight contests over the years have been between Mexican and Puerto Rican fighters, including the fight between Oscar de la Hoya and Felix Trinidad, and when Hector Camacho took on Julio Cesar Chavez.

Cotto had to be taken to the hospital after the bout, which sent him to the floor twice in the 11th round when both his corner and the referee stopped the brutal beating. Sports writers present described it as one of the best boxing matches in many years -- and all said that our hometown champion, Floyd Mayweather, who did not watch the bout, had retired from the sport so he wouldn’t lose to one of these two fighters in a cash-rich promotion.

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