On July 21, 2001, he received his first world title try, against Santos, for the WBO world Welterweight crown, at Bayamon, Puerto Rico's Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum. The fight had to be stopped in the first round as a consequence of a clash of heads that opened deep gashes on both fighters and sent them both to a nearby hospital. Because the fight had not gone over the reglamentary four rounds or more for a technical decision to be awarded, it was declared a no contest, and Santos retained the belt but without adding a loss to Margarito's record.Santos then vacated the WBO world Welterweight title to pursue the WBO's world Jr. Middleweight championship, and Margarito was assigned to fight Antonio Diaz for the vacant world crown, in front of an HBO Boxing audience. On March 16, 2002, Margarito crowned himself world champion by beating Diaz by knockout in round ten. He defended that crown with a decision in twelve over Danny Perez and a knockout in two over former world champion Andrew Lewis.
Margarito has decided to go up in weight, to try to lure Fernando Vargas, Oscar De La Hoya or Shane Mosley into a fight, or Santos into a rematch at the Jr. Middleweight division. He is still also actively looking for an unification bout with WBC and WBA world champion Ricardo Mayorga. On October 17, 2003, Margarito made his Jr. Middleweight division debut with a two round knockout win over Maurice Brantley in Phoenix, Arizona.
On January 31, 2004, and back at the Welterweight division, he retained his title with a second round knockout of Canada's Hercules Kyvelos, who was undefeated until then.
Margarito faced Daniel Santos in a rematch on September 11 of the same year, at the Jose Miguel Agrelot coliseum in San Juan, for Santos' WBO world Jr. Middleweight title. The rematch also ended because of a headbutt, but this time, as the fight had already reached the four rounds mark that is needed for fights like these to be decided by judges, Margarito lost by a split ten round technical decision.
Margarito has a record of 30 wins, 4 losses and 1 no contest, with 21 wins by knockout.
At the age of 30, Antonio is a 14-year pro .He won the the IBF welterweight world title in his last fight on April 12 when he gave a sensational performance and knocked out defending champion Kermit Cintron in the sixth round of their rematche has now given up the IBF title in order to challenge Miguel Cotto for the WBA world title.After the Cintron fight, Dan Rafael wrote on ESPN.com: “Man or machine? Margarito looked more like machine in this rematch of a 2005 title bout in which he destroyed Cintron in five rounds.
“Cintron had been haunted by that loss for the past three years and was man enough to give Margarito a rematch. Turned out to be a mistake. Although Cintron, a sensational puncher, delivered some hard blows, Margarito walked through them and took Cintron apart again in a shockingly one-sided fight.“Margarito, 30, had lost his version of the title to Paul Williams last summer because he started slow and gave away most of the first half of the fight. He clearly has learned his lesson. He blew out Golden Johnson in one round in his November comeback fight and also started fast against Cintron, 28, never letting up until knocking him out with a brutal left to the body in the sixth.
“Margarito was so thoroughly enjoying the butt-whipping he was laying on Cintron that while he was on the canvas taking the count from referee Earl Brown, Margarito was in the neutral corner begging Cintron to get up. Margarito’s victory sets up a July 26 with main event winner Miguel Cotto, which has all the ingredients to make for a classic. It’s Mexico vs. Puerto Rico. Brawler against brawler. It has fight of the year written all over it, and that’s even in a year that has already produced Israel Vazquez-Rafael Marquez III and Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II.”
Fightwriter.com’s Graham Houston reported: “I am starting to think that Antonio Margarito might be one of the toughest fighters ever seen in the welterweight division, which is saying something.
“He took some bombs from Kermit Cintron...and just kept coming forward, letting the punches fly, a relentless aggressor who would not be denied.“Cintron, as had generally been expected, put up a far better fight than he did three years ago in Las Vegas when Margarito rolled right over him in five rounds, and he was not disgraced in his sixth-round defeat. Cintron did as well as anyone could reasonably have expected, but the result never really seemed in doubt from round two onwards.
“It was as if everything Cintron delivered was being repaid with interest. He would land clean, flush shots, then Margarito would come to him again and batter him around.
“It must have been very discouraging for Cintron to see Margarito walk through everything. In the third round, for instance, Cintron landed a textbook-perfect right uppercut, a tremendous shot, yet Margarito merely paused for a couple of seconds - as if he was thinking: “That was a good shot” - and then marched right in again.“Although each man was cut, Margarito, Lord love him, seemed to be enjoying the fight in the fifth round while Cintron was like a man fighting for his very life. When Margarito grinned at Cintron after taking yet another direct hit it seemed clear that the IBF title would soon be changing hands, but the end came suddenly in the sixth when a left hook to the body crumpled the Puerto Rican fighter.” [End Houston item]
Antonio is also a former WBO welterweight world champion. He won the title in March, 2002, and made seven successful defenses before losing the title against Paul Williams in July, 2007.
Antonio told Boxingtalk.net, “You know, honestly, during the fight I thought I was well ahead on the cards. But then when I sat down to watch the fight, I saw that they gave him the fight just because he threw more punches, like an amateur fight. I connected more blows than him and he simply slapped. He threw double what I threw and I landed more punches. It seems the judges scored his slaps instead of the punches that I got through. Although, as everyone mentioned, I did learn from that fight that I can no longer be slow starter. From now on I plan to get right to it from the opening bell. I learned plenty from that fight.”Antonio has fought good opposition throughout his career and has several impressive wins. He was the underdog in many of his early fights, and had a few setbacks in his first two years as a pro - he was 9-3 in his first 12 fights.Antonio’s webpage address is antoniomargarito.com.
PROFESSIONAL RECORD OF KEY FIGHTS
2008
APRIL - WON IBF W WORLD TITLE - in his last fight on he knocked out defending champion Kermit Cintron (29-1). This rematch was co-featured with the Miguel Cotto-Alfonso Gomez main event and it was an exciting fight. Cintron won the 1st round on two scorecards, but Antonio pressured him relentlessly after that and shut him out on the scorecards. Cintron had his moments and landed several clean, hard right hands and uppercuts, but Antonio came back strongly every time and rocked Cintron repeatedly. Antonio was cut over his left eye in the 3rd round, and Cintron was cut over his right eye in the 5th. Antonio scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 6th round, and Cintron was counted out on his hands and knees - face down on the canvas - at 1:57. After five rounds, Antonio led by scores of 50-45, 49-46, 49-46.
2007
NOVEMBER - WON VACANT WBO INTERCONTINENTAL W TITLE - by TKO against former NABF lightweight and welterweight champion Golden Johnson (25-7-3). Antonio quickly overpowered Johnson. He scored three knockdowns in the 1st round – the first with two left uppercuts that put Johnson flat on his back, the second with a series of punches that dropped Johnson to one knee, the third with three left hooks to the body and and head that put Johnson on his hands and knees. The referee stopped the fight without a count at 2:38.
JULY - LOST WBO W WORLD TITLE by a 12 round unanimous decision against five-foot 11-inch tall lefthander Paul Williams (32-0). Williams kept a relentless pace in the early rounds and built a big lead on the scorecards – after six rounds, he led by scores of 60-54, 59-55, 59-55. but Antonio rallied in the second half of the fight – he hurt Williams with a left hook to the body in the 7th round and swept the round on all three scorecards, won the 8th on two scorecards, then swept the 10th. He cut Williams badly over his left eye in the 11th round and swept that round on the scorecards, as well, but Williams came back and won the 12th on two scorecards, and won by scores of 116-112, 115-113, 115-113.
2006
December: Won 7th WBO Welterweight World Title Defense by a 12-round unanimous decision against Joshua Clottey (30-1). In a hard-fought battle, Clottey started fast and swept the 2nd and 3rd rounds on all three scorecards and won the 4th on two; but Antonio rallied in the 5th and stepped up his pace in the second half of the fight. He swept rounds five through 11 on all three scorecards. After the fight, Antonio said, “10 months off really didn’t help me. I couldn’t get my rhythm early in the fight, but I definitely warmed up starting in the fifth roundFebruary: Won 6th WBO Welterweight World Title Defense by TKO against Manuel Gomez. Margarito was very impresseve. He scored a knockdown with a series of punches in the 1st round, and the referee stopped the fight in mid-count at 1:14.
2005
April: Won 5th WBO Welterweight World Title Defense against previously undefeated Kermit Cintron (24-0) by TKO. It was a highly-anticipated event, but Antonio dominated the fight. He cut Cintron over the right eye with an uppercut in the 3rd round, then scored two knockdowns in the 4th. Antonio scored two more knockdown in the 5th round and Cintron's cornerman threw in the towel, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:21.February: Won 4th WBO Welterweight World Title Defense against Sebastian Lujan (22-1-1) by TKO, when he dismantled the tough, durable Lujan in six rounds. The bout was stopped after the cartilage in Lujan's left ear had separated from the ear itself. The ear was also bleeding from a broken ear drum.
2004
September: Lost WBO Junior Middleweight World Title Challenge by Technical Split Decision against defending champion, Daniel Santos in the rematch. Santos has always been known for constant movement, but stayed in punching range. He staggered Margarito late in the 1st round and outworked him early in the fight. Antonio punched effectively to the body and came on strongly in the middle rounds, but was badly cut on his right eyebrow by a clash of heads in the 6th. The remaining rounds were close, but the ringside doctor stopped the fight on the cut in the 9th round, after his third examination of the injury and the fight went to the scorecards. It looked like the decision could go either way, and many ringsiders thought Margarito deserved to win, but the judges scored in favour of Santos.
January: Won 3RD WBO Welterweight World Title Defense by TKO against previously undefeated Hercules Kyvelos. Margarito headlined the card and gave an overwhelming performance. He buckled Kyvelos' knees with a left uppercut midway through the 1st round, and trapped him on the ropes later in the round with an unanswered series of punches. Kyvelos landed his best punch of the fight early in the 2nd round with a straight right hand to the chin, but Antonio just smiled, nodded his head in recognition, and knocked down Kyvelos, flat on his side with a left uppercut. Kyvelos got up, but was very unsteady and staggered backwards into the ropes without a punch being thrown. Antonio attacked and the referee stopped the fight.
2003
October: Won by KO against Maurice Brantley in a non-title 10-rounder. Margarito scored one knockdown in the 1st round and scored another knockdown in the 2nd with a left hook to the body, and Brantley was counted out.February: Won 2nd WBO Welterweight World Title Defense by TKO against former WBA welterweight world champion, Andrew "Six Heads" Lewis. Lewis started fast and outworked Margarito in the 1st round, but Antonio just smiled at him through the punches. In the 2nd round, Antonio staggered Lewis with a right hand, and followed with a series of punches that left him sagging into the ropes and defenseless, and the referee stopped the fight.
2002
October: Won 1st WBO Welterweight World Title Defense by 12-round unanimous decision against Danny Perez. Margarito dominated the fight and rocked Perez in the 2nd, 3rd, and 5th rounds. He constantly pressured Perez and wore him down.March: Won vacant WBO Welterweight World Title by TKO against Antonio Diaz in an impressive performance in an exciting fight. The scores were even after six rounds, but Antonio kept a relentless pace, swept rouns 7, 8 and 9 on two scorecards, and gradually wore down Diaz. Margarito scored a knockdown in the 10th round with a series of uppercuts. Diaz got up, but Antonio rocked him several more times and Diaz' corner threw in the towel to stop the fight.
2001
July: WBO Welterweight World Title Challenge ruled No Contest against Daniel Santos. The fight had a premature ending. The fighters accidentally clashed heads in the first round and Antonio was badly cut on the right eyebrow, causing the referee to stop the fight.
March: Won by KO against Robert West. Margarito scored two knockdowns, the first with a series of right hands to the body, the second with a left hook to the body, and stopped West in the first round.
2000
December: Won by TKO against former three-time world champion, Frankie Randall. Margarito dominated the fight. He hurt Randall badly late in the third, staggered him late in the fourth, and Randall did not answer the bell for the fifth round.September: Won by TKO against Jose Benitez in the 1st round.June: Won by KO against two-time world title challenger, David Kamau. Margarito scored two knockdowns in the 2nd round, and the referee stopped the fight without a count.February: Won by TKO against previously undefeated Sergio Martinez. Margarito scored a knockdown in the 7th round and stopped Martinez.
1999
December: Won by KO against Efrain Munoz. Margarito scored two knockdowns in the first round and one in the second when Munoz was counted out.October: Won by TKO against veteran, Buck Smith. Margarito stopped him with a body punch in the sixth round.June: Won 8-Round Split Decision against Danny Perez. Margarito was knocked down in the first round, but came back strong to win. Perez went on to win the NABF title.
1998
December: Won by KO against Reyes Estrada in the 2nd round.April: Won 8-Round Decision against veteran, Miguel "Jarocho" Gonzalez.
1996October: Won by KO against heavily-favored Alfred Ankamah. Margarito staggered Ankamah in the second round and he barely survived. Ankamah recovered and was coming on strong in the fourth when Margarito knocked him down and out with two right hands.June: Lost 10-Round Decision against slick southpaw, Rodney Jones, who frustrated Margarito with his speed and constant movement.February: Lost 10-Round Decision against Larry Dixon.