By Mark Vester
Former welterweight champion Antonio Margarito is a man on a mission. The power-puncher from Mexico has set his sights on breaking the current domination of the welterweight division by fighters from Puerto Rico. Kermit Cintron holds the IBF title, Miguel Cotto has the WBA and Carlos Quintana recently won the WBO's version of the crown.
Margarito takes on Cintron on April 12 in Atlantic City. The winner will meet Cotto in a unification bout that is slated for July.
"First, I am going to one again beat Kermit Cintrón in order to fight Miguel Cotto, beat him too, and then fight Carlos Quintana", Margarito told Primera Hora. "I have to give Cintrón credit for accepting the fight. He says that he's a different fighter from when I beat him the last time, but I'm still going to take his title. Then fight Cotto immediately, and then I can fight Quintana to make sure all of the titles are with me."
Margarito says the he's learned a lot from his close decision loss to Paul Williams in 2007 and vowed to show some of his changes in the Cintron rematch.
"I learned a lot from that fight. I didn't apply pressure from the start and I wasn't able to land the right punches. I learned my lesson and this time it's going to be different. I am coming with a lot of hunger to be champion and I am going to knock Cintrón out again," Margarito said. "Then my promoter, Bob Arum, promised us a fight with Cotto. It doesn't matter where the fight takes place, money is what talks."
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