Antonio Margarito seeking the respect that Miguel Cotto has

What Margarito is really seeking Saturday when he meets Cotto, the undefeated world champion, is the respect the 27-year-old Puerto Rican has earned and the right to be considered the world's best welterweight.

"I know it's not going to be an easy fight," Margarito said. "But I think I have the style to beat Cotto."

Answered Cotto: "I expect a great fight. Margarito is a great fighter. [But] I'm going to climb out of the ring as a champion."

Cotto, with 26 knockouts and 32 wins in as many fights, is certainly climbing into the ring that way. However there's much more on the line than just Cotto's championship belt. With the retirement -- at least temporarily -- of Floyd Mayweather Jr. and the planned retirement of Oscar De La Hoya, the winner of Saturday's fight at the MGM Grand and in front of an HBO pay-per-view audience becomes the star of the welterweight division at a time when boxing definitely needs stars.

Both fighters weighed in Friday at 147 pounds before a raucous crowd of about 3,000 at the MGM Grand's Garden Arena, with Cotto a 2-5 favorite.

Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs) has repeatedly said this is the kind of lucrative, high-profile fight he has been waiting for. But it's a fight he turned down a year ago, choosing to defend his World Boxing Organization title by fighting top challenger Paul Williams instead.

Margarito lost that fight, only one of two losses he has suffered in the last 12 years. But he said he learned something in the process, knocking out Golden Johnson (first round) and Kermit Cintron (sixth round) in his last two fights.

"I started too slow," said Margarito, who basically conceded the first four rounds against Williams. "I know now that when the bell rings I have to start throwing punches."

That's rarely been a problem for the 30-year-old Mexican, who has averaged more than 40 punches a minute in some fights, a hard-charging style that has earned him the nickname "Tijuana Tornado" -- and, if you believe him, led a number of top fighters to avoid him.

But throwing a punch and landing one are two different things and Cotto, who has gone down only once in his professional career, has proven he can both take and slip a punch.

He can dish out some punishment too, as he showed by battering the likes of Alfonso Gomez, Carlos Quintana and Zab Judah.

Stamina, however, could be a problem for Cotto, a devastating body puncher who has been forced to go the distance only three times in 32 fights.

So this contrast in styles between the compact Cotto, an old-school fighter with a punishing jab and relentless body punches, and the brawling Margarito, who has a significant advantage in both height and reach, could come down to heart, something rarely in short supply when Mexicans and Puerto Ricans square off in the ring.

"I want it more than he does," Margarito said.

Answered Cotto: "It's going to be a great victory for the people of Puerto Rico."

kevin.baxter@latimes.com