By Eric Thomas: In a fight that failed to live up to all of the hype that was previously generated about it, WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (36-2, 29 Ko’s) easily out-boxed a painfully slow Antonio Margarito (38-7, 27 KO’s), hitting, moving and grabbing until the fight was halted by the ring doctor at the start of the 10th round due to Margarito’s previously surgically repaired right eye being closed.

Cotto dominated every round with his sharp punching and avoided a of Margarito’s power shots. Margarito was cut on the right eye in the 3rd, and later on in the fight the eye completely closed in the 7th. It really didn’t matter, though, because Cotto wasn’t showing any signs of fading this time like he did last time and Margarito didn’t have the speed or the jab to make Cotto pay. In the end, Margarito was simply too diminished from the last time they fought to do much. He was clearly slower and his surgically repaired right eye closed up like a lot of people thought it would once it started getting hit. It looked as if Cotto was targeting with shots. But again, it really didn’t matter because Margarito wasn’t going to change the outcome of the fight because his power wasn’t there, and Cotto was using difference tactics such as running and holding to ensure Margarito wouldn’t get any chances to hurt him like he did last time.

Overall, Cotto looked good. With this win, Cotto will likely move forward to take on WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. next in a fight that may or may not involve Chavez’s World Boxing Council title. Chavez Jr. could get stripped of the title if he fails to fight Sergio Martinez. But that paper title isn’t really all that important. Boxing fans would like to see this fight, and this would be an in house fight for Bob Arum of Top Rank.

Although I liked how Cotto looked tonight, I think some of the other junior middleweights would likely beat him, such as Saul Alvarez, Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland. I see all of those guys as better than Cotto now. However, Arum isn’t going to match Cotto with any of them, so Cotto should be already for a long to come if Arum keeps matching him carefully in fights he can win. Margarito was the perfect fight for Cotto, because Margarito isn’t the fighter he once was and has really slipped in a major way.