Antonio Margarito Stops Miguel Cotto, Captures WBA Crown

Antonio Margarito’s well touted solid chin proved to be the difference in his match against Miguel Cotto at MGM, Las Vegas last weekend. Margarito, known as Tijuana Tornado, won the WBA 147 crown by knocking out Cotto for the win.

Cotto controlled the early rounds with his nasty combo punches. But Margarito was just too tough to break down. Margarito absorbed the flurries of punches from Cotto while dishing out some of his own until he cracked his opponent’s shell in the latter rounds.

Margarito pummeled Cotto in the 11^th round and sent him to the canvass 80 seconds into the round. Margarito continued to hound the Puerto Rican star until he went down to the floor for the second time. With Cotto’s face practically rearranged, his corner was forced to stop the fight.

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AJ “Bazooka” Banal Suffers First Loss at the Hands of Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion

Undefeated ALA fighter AJ “Bazooka” Banal suffered his first career loss after getting knocked down in the 10^th round of the bout against Panamanian Rafael “El Torito” Concepcion. Banal was sent to the canvass at 2:35 of the 10^th round and refused to get back on his feet. He was clearly exhausted after getting hit on the body by the Panamanian visitor.

Banal appeared to be in top form especially in the first few rounds when he unleashed nasty combinations that hit Concepcion hard. During the middle rounds however, Banal seemed to have lost steam which and Concepcion took notice of this. Concepcion, nicknamed “El Torito” or little bull in English lived up to his name and gored his way back into the fight and eventually floored Banal with a pair of nasty rights.

Banal, down on his knees and obviously spent, shook his head as the referee made the count of 10.

In the under card features, Filipino boxer Milan Milendo capture the WBA Intercontinental gold via unanimous decision over Panamanian Carlos Melo. Michael Domingo, a Filipino, knocked out Rivo Rengkung of Indonesia in the second round to capture the WBO Oriental crown. James Bacon, also from Philippines, knocked out his Indonesian opponent Skak Max in the sixth and final round of their match.

-photo credit: philboxing.com/deng secuya

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NBA Madness in the Philippines

-photos by fouledout