Antonio Margarito knocks crown off Miguel Cotto's head

Cotto, trailing on two of the three scorecards when the bout was halted, had been knocked down only once in 32 professional fights.

"Obviously, Cotto is a strong fighter," Margarito said. "But as the fight went on I told my corner I would wear him down and then knock him down. I told them [that] the knockout would come and the knockout came.

"He never hurt me, really."

Certainly, Cotto couldn't say the same, bolting from the ring immediately after the fight. With a look of shock on a face that was bloodied and swollen, Cotto huddled alone in his dressing room with his wife and three children before leaving for an expected trip to the hospital.

Where Margarito (37-5, 27 knockouts) goes from here is tough to say, but at least he'll be calling the shots. With his punishing, aggressive style, the 30-year-old from Tijuana has been the welterweight other fighters love to avoid, with even Floyd Mayweather Jr. reportedly turning down $8 million for a fight with him.

Now that he owns the championship, though, anyone with designs on the title will have to come through him.

It's unlikely Oscar De La Hoya, still the most bankable name in boxing, will offer to make Margarito the opponent in his planned retirement bout in December. And Mayweather may simply choose to stay retired if coming back means fighting Margarito.

Which could make a fight with Shane Mosley, if he beats Ricardo Mayorga in September, or a rematch with Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) among the most likely next steps.

"Life continues," said Cotto, 27, whom many considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world before Saturday. "It's not over for me. I'm going to take a long rest [then] decide what to do next."

Fighting with the memory of his murdered brother, Manuel, in his heart and his wife Michelle's name on his trunks, Margarito had promised to be the aggressor, but it was Cotto who attacked from the opening bell, snapping the Mexican's head back with a straight left halfway through the round, then rocking him two more times with hard lefts in the final 64 seconds.

Margarito, who spent most of Saturday in bed watching television, woke up in the second round, bloodying Cotto's nose. And he kept going after the Puerto Rican, who was forced to fight backing up as Margarito chased him around the ring.

But apart from the bloody nose, Margarito's punches appeared to hurt the challenger more than the champion in the early going as Margarito, a 2-1 underdog going in, grew tired trying to run Cotto down. That changed early in the seventh round with Margarito unleashing a powerful left hook that clearly hurt Cotto.

"In the sixth round, I could feel him getting weaker and I was getting stronger," said Margarito, who got $1.6 million for the fight, about half of Cotto's guarantee but still the largest purse of his 15-year career. "I knew it was my time."

Cotto, who appeared confident coming in, spending his time before the fight playing video games in his hotel suite, tried counterpunching with some success, but as the bout wore on, even that strategy lost its effectiveness, allowing Margarito to get in close enough to rock him with a right-left combination late in the 10th round that had Cotto covering up.

By then Cotto's face was a bloody mess and Margarito moved in for the kill.

"That was the game plan," he said. "Come out early, wear him down, knock him down."

Even after losing his crown, Cotto went out like a champion.

"This was Margarito's night," Cotto said. "He did an excellent job. He did his job better than I did mine."

kevin.baxter@latimes.com