Cotto vs. Margarito: Boxing Villain Margarito Should Retire After Cotto Beatdown

Antonio Margarito is fighting to save his career—too bad it ended already. Miguel Cotto is about to clue him into that fact. 

The big puncher is clinging to the last vestiges of a torn and tattered career. Margarito was once known as a heavy puncher who was considered one of the best welterweights in the business. 

Now he is known as a villain that was caught with plaster in his gloves, and very well may have done the same in prior fights. That notion is really the leading story heading into this bout that would have been passed over by mainstream fans otherwise. 

What was shown in the loss to Shane Mosley was blatantly evident against Manny Pacquiao. Margarito has lost it. The power and any amount of speed that would trump Cotto is gone. What's left is a boxer who has done anything to win, and that has cost him. 

Most fans will stand behind Cotto in the assumption that Margarito's gloves were somehow doctored in his loss in 2008. That assumption will have the boxing world in Cotto's corner, and that more than anything makes the decision clear. 

After showing once again that his skills have waned, Margarito should treat a loss the way most will want him to treat it: as his last. 

There is no reason for him to go on. He continues to fight in the hopes of proving that he beat Cotto and other boxers fair and square. In an odd turn, his latest fights only further cement what we think about this once lauded pugilist. 

In fact, he should quite before he digs himself into a bigger hole. If Cotto wipes the mat with Margarito and takes everything that his enemy delivers, Margarito will have lost two fights in the minds of every fan. 

The time for Margarito to walk away from the sport has arrived. Cotto just needs to exact his revenge first.