VICTORIES FOR MARGARITO AND COTTO

April 13th - Atlantic City - by Ron Borges | Photos by Will Hart

It was a night of threats but none of them in the ring at Boardwalk Hall.

Inside the ropes WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto made short work of former "Contenders'' star Alfonso Gomez, battering him to the floor three times before their fight was stopped by referee Randy Neumann upon the advice of the ringside physicians at the end of five lopsided rounds.

Barely a half hour earlier former WBO champion Antonio Margarito became a champion once again by stopping IBF titleholder Kermit Cintron at 1:57 of the sixth round of a fight as lopsided as their original meeting three years ago at Caesars Palace. As fights go it was barely an argument.

Margarito had promised a repeat of that night and he delivered, overpowering Cintron on the inside until he battered him to the floor with a screaming left to the body that pushed the breath out of him.

Cintron, who was cut, bleeding and bruised by then, fell to his hands and knees, his face staring at the floor as referee Earl Brown counted him out. If he had any thoughts of carrying on they were overruled by his body's inability to catch its breath.

"My hands were up high and he hit me with a left uppercut to the body,'' Cintron (29-2, 25 KO) said. "I couldn't breath.''

Just as well because by then Margarito (36-5, 26 KO) had ignored everything Cintron threw at him, including some stinging uppercuts and the big right hand that had made him a world champion only 18 months after his first loss to Margarito. While Cintron was unable to catch his breath, Margarito was barely breathing heavily.

"I'm surprised it went as long as it did,'' the cocky Margarito said. "I had this fight from the beginning.''

So, too, did Cotto, who dropped poor Gomez in the second, third and fifth rounds. What this proves is difficult to fathom beyond the fact that Gomez is one tough hombre…and so is Cotto, by the way.

"Cotto sent a message tonight,'' insisted his cutman, veteran Miguel Diaz. "He'll punish anyone who gets in the ring with him.''

Certainly that's what Cotto (32-0, 26 KO) has done to most of the people thus far but Margarito made clear he did not believe what went on Saturday night would continue much longer for Cotto.

"They promised me Cotto,'' he said of their dual promoter, Bob Arum. "They better deliver.''

They already have, The fight has been signed for July 26, although there is not yet a site. It could be in New York, back in Atlantic City or in Las Vegas. Wherever it is, fans and mayhem seem sure to follow.

Cotto dismissed talk of possibly avoiding Margarito and trying to get a shot at the No. 1 pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. saying he leaves such matters up to his promoter. What he didn't leave to him, or to anyone's imagination, was what he feels about facing Margarito next.

"I'll be prepared for anyone who gets into the right, especially Margarito,'' Cotto said.

Gomez did all he could to play the spoiler but he lacked the firepower or the skill to hold off the far stronger Cotto. He was, to his credit, brave and throwing punches to the end but in the fifth round he went down from what appeared to be a punch of minimal power, a sign to the doctors at ringside that he had had enough.

When they came to his corner between rounds, Gomez shook his head in protest but could do little to convince anyone that his closing right eye and tiring body could take, or should take, any more punishment.

Cintron, on the other hand, was expected to be more competitive but really was not. Although he won the first round on two of the judges' cards by effectively using his jab to hold Margarito off, he unwisely abandoned that strategy - or was forced to - and didn't win another minute of the fight. Later a bemused Cintron admitted his tactical change was an unwise one.

"I should have boxed more,'' Cintron said. "I should have stayed on the outside.''

He would have if he could have but Margarito was simply too strong. Once it was clear he would walk through whatever was being thrown at him and land on the inside, the fight was over. It was just a matter of how long it would take.

As it turned out it was a round longer than the first time. To be fair, Cintron was better than he was that night in Las Vegas but he was still no competition for Margarito, who was still angry over losing his WBO title to Paul Williams last year when he allowed himself to be outhustled and outboxed in the early rounds to the point where his late rally came up short.

He was taking no such chances against Cintron, who he began to hammer with body shots and combinations to the head from the second round on. He was hitting Cintron so often in fact that the latter kept thinking he was being hit behind the head. He was but only because he kept turning his head away from the first punch, thus making it impossible for Margarito to do much else.

Regardless, in the end, he hit him anywhere and everywhere, including with a body shot so nasty it left Cintron looking like Oscar De La Hoya the night Bernard Hopkins stopped him with a similarly thrown body shot.

In the end, both fights proved to be what was expected. They were showcases for each man and for a showdown between two guys who don't like each other much and intend to make that clear on July 26.