Miguel Cotto

It was no short story, but a long beat-down. Manny Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach had speculated that an early Pacquiao onslaught and Cotto's recent history of first-round trouble made the bet of a first-round KO one of Saturday night's best Vegas gambles. Cotto had other plans, obviously, and the quality of the Puerto Rican's recovery from his only loss, an ugly beating by the heavy hands of since-tainted Antonio Margarito inside this same MGM Grand Garden Arena in July 2008, was about to be severely tested against the 2008 fighter of the year who needed only two rounds to smash his last foe, Ricky Hatton, in May. The showdown between the Filipino idol and the pride of Puerto Rico made for a festive prelude for the sellout crowd of 16,200, with vocal throngs saluting their favorites as promoter Top Rank unveiled an Ultimate Fighting-like video montage before the ring walks -- Pacquiao to "Eye of the Tiger," and Cotto to Kanye West's "Stronger."

LAS VEGAS — At the end of a tough, long night, Floyd Mayweather Jr. was left staring at a June 1 jail sentence and a boxing landscape that he seems to believe cannot deliver another quality opponent. The unbeaten 35-year-old champion late Saturday said he's leaning "80-20" toward retirement. "If it was my last fight, I gave them a bang," Mayweather (43-0) said after his unanimous-decision (118-110, 117-111, 117-111) triumph over Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto (37-3) at the MGM Grand.

Reporting from New York — How do you deal with loss? It's a subject for lengthy books, can require countless hours of solace and has broken people for good. Miguel Cotto learned how to overcome loss from his father, Miguel Cotto Sr. And then Miguel Cotto Sr. died. "My father was the nicest man I've ever met," Cotto said. "I looked at him every day, every moment I could. He's who I learned from. "Seeing how he dealt with the tough things he had to go through, and always got back up....

LAS VEGAS -- At the final bell , they hugged and patted each other on the sides of the same heads they had spent an hour beating on. They were two tough fighters, not even knowing what the judges would rule, but each satisfied with an incredible effort Saturday night. This was the controversial Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus the resurgent and tough-as-nails Miguel Cotto. And when the decision was announced, the boos rang down. Mayweather had been given a surprisingly one-sided unanimous decision.

Miguel Cotto shone brightly once again, this time under the twinkling lights of Yankee Stadium. The pride of Puerto Rico stopped a game Yuri Foreman in the ninth round Saturday night to win the junior middleweight title, delighting thousands of his flag-waving fans in the first fight at the Bronx ballpark in more than three decades. It didn't come without a bit of controversy, or at least an interesting footnote. Foreman slipped in the seventh round and badly twisted his right knee, then slipped to the mat again later in the round.

Reporting from New York -- Miguel Cotto got his revenge against Antonio Margarito on Saturday, belting his bitter rival throughout nine rounds until a ringside doctor ruled that the wounded Tijuana fighter could no longer continue. The clearly crisper Cotto (37-2, 30 knockouts) repeatedly got the best of Margarito by smashing him with jabs, straight rights and sturdy lefts. By the seventh round, Margarito's previously injured right eye was closed, and an extra ringside doctor began watching the eye closely.

Miguel Cotto heard about Antonio Margarito's suspension for attempting to hide a plaster-like substance in his gloves and he wondered. Cotto's only loss came against Margarito, an 11th-round knockout in July of last year, several months before Margarito lost by knockout to Shane Mosley at Staples Center. It was before that fight that Margarito was discovered to have the illegal substance under his hand wrappings.

LAS VEGAS — The antidote to Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s brash methods of remaining unbeaten might be stored away in a champion who doesn't talk very much. Miguel Cotto, Mayweather's Saturday night opponent in a World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena, has lost to only two men. The first was Antonio Margarito, who one fight later had plaster-caked inserts confiscated from inside his hand wraps. Fifteen months later, Cotto, after basically training himself, lost to Manny Pacquiao by 12th-round technical knockout.

Tired of being disappointed because there isn't a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight? Miguel Cotto is here to try to slug out your frustrations. "I didn't care about hearing one more thing about that," Cotto said Thursday, appearing in Hollywood to promote his May 5 bout against the unbeaten Mayweather. "My next step is Mayweather. If people want to see that [Mayweather-Pacquiao] fight, they have to wait until I beat Mayweather. " Cotto (37-2, 30 knockouts), the World Boxing Assn.

Miguel Cotto understands the value of redemption, and to get there requires a successful title defense Saturday night against Nicaraguan madman Ricardo Mayorga. Should he do the expected as an 8-to-1 Las Vegas betting favorite and keep the World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight belt in a pay-per-view bout at MGM Grand, Puerto Rico's Cotto (35-2, 28 knockouts) has agreed to make his nemesis, Antonio Margarito, his next opponent in July. "Miguel has taken some horrific beatings, but he's always retained his dignity and the thing I always talk to him about is the importance of signature fights," said Emanuel Steward, Cotto's Hall of Fame trainer.

LAS VEGAS — A big mistake while pondering Floyd Mayweather Jr. is to try to make sense of him. His unpredictability is his only certainty. It is well before noon Friday at the MGM Grand. This is not so much a resort and casino as it is a massive enclosed labyrinth of contrasts. Under the same roof, yet miles apart, unemployed dads lose the rent money to slot machines while Mayweather generates a throng of worshippers that symbolizes why he will increase his already hefty bank account by about $32 million.

LAS VEGAS — The antidote to Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s brash methods of remaining unbeaten might be stored away in a champion who doesn't talk very much. Miguel Cotto, Mayweather's Saturday night opponent in a World Boxing Assn. super-welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena, has lost to only two men. The first was Antonio Margarito, who one fight later had plaster-caked inserts confiscated from inside his hand wraps. Fifteen months later, Cotto, after basically training himself, lost to Manny Pacquiao by 12th-round technical knockout.

There will be a rematch. At the end of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s controversial, borderline-sucker-punch victory over Victor Ortiz in September, HBO boxing analyst Larry Merchant's post-fight interview with Mayweather took a personal turn. Mayweather accused Merchant of never giving him a break, and said angrily that HBO should fire the now 81-year-old, to which Merchant replied, "If I was 50 years younger, I'd kick your [rear]. " When Mayweather returns to the ring Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas against world super-welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, Merchant will help call the action, and has been assigned to post-fight interview duty even though the sport's top power broker has said he doesn't want to talk to the man. Are you surprised you got this assignment given HBO's reputation for catering to the wishes of Mayweather and his team?

LAS VEGAS — The volatility that defines Floyd Mayweather Jr. is rooted partly in the complex relationship with his father. Floyd Mayweather Sr.'s boxing lessons helped propel his son to unimaginable riches. The younger Mayweather gets another huge payday Saturday for his title bout against 154-pound champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But there's tragedy in the familial connection, too, of lessons outside the ring that were left for the son to learn painfully on his own. On June 1, Mayweather Jr., 35, is scheduled to report to Clark County (Nev.)

LAS VEGAS — The two prime ribs of boxing, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, continue to create their sizzle separately. Their fight of the century, any century, seems to be going the way of the Edsel and the eight-track tape. Passage of time doesn't heal all, but it sure does dull things. It is Mayweather's time now. Boxing is nothing if not a huge attention grab, and Mayweather is in the center ring of the circus he so deeply loves. He will fight Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand here May 5, and that correctly has the current spotlight.

TUCSON, Ariz. -- Disgraced and disfigured former world welterweight champion Antonio Margarito said Friday night that he wants to face box-office darling Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in September. Margarito was at the Casino Del Sol in support of his brother-in-law Hanzel Martinez, who knocked out Jose Miguel Tamayo in one round. “I've been told I could fight on May 26 here in Tucson,” Margarito said. “But if it's in June, that's fine, because it's in September that we're going to fight [Chavez]

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico -- The sun is still fighting to rise over the lush green hills of Puerto Rico's fertile midsection as five men meet in a park near the city center for their regular morning workout. Less than a block into the run, when an SUV pulls up behind the group and honks, the man at the front of the pack responds by pulling down the back of his sweat pants and mooning the driver. Miguel Cotto, arguably the island's hottest athlete, breaks into a smile before he's even broken a sweat.

Boxer Manny Pacquiao will have the opportunity to win a world title in a fourth division in November when he fights his Top Rank promotions stablemate Miguel Cotto on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the fighters' promoter announced Monday.

Tired of being disappointed because there isn't a Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Manny Pacquiao fight? Miguel Cotto is here to try to slug out your frustrations. "I didn't care about hearing one more thing about that," Cotto said Thursday, appearing in Hollywood to promote his May 5 bout against the unbeaten Mayweather. "My next step is Mayweather. If people want to see that [Mayweather-Pacquiao] fight, they have to wait until I beat Mayweather. " Cotto (37-2, 30 knockouts), the World Boxing Assn.

Reporting from New York -- Miguel Cotto got his revenge against Antonio Margarito on Saturday, belting his bitter rival throughout nine rounds until a ringside doctor ruled that the wounded Tijuana fighter could no longer continue. The clearly crisper Cotto (37-2, 30 knockouts) repeatedly got the best of Margarito by smashing him with jabs, straight rights and sturdy lefts. By the seventh round, Margarito's previously injured right eye was closed, and an extra ringside doctor began watching the eye closely.