Miguel Cotto defends his WBA light middleweight crown against his old rival Antonio Margarito at New York's legendary Madison Square Garden this Saturday night in the most anticipated matchup of the year. Few fights in recent boxing history have needed less hype than this rematch: fight fans the world over will recall that Margarito took Cotto's WBA welterweight title and unbeaten record with a sensational 11th round TKO in 2008. When the Mexican was subsequently caught using Plaster of Paris inserts in his hand wraps prior to a title defense against Shane Mosley six months later, doubts were cast towards the legitimacy of his victory over Cotto. Now both men get the chance to set the record straight.

Prior to his loss to Margarito, Cotto was considered a contender for the title of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He had already beaten big-name fighters like Mosley and Zab Judah, and pound-for-pound rival Floyd Mayweather Jr wanted no part of him. 

Although Margarito had become a two-time welterweight champion with an impressive sixth round TKO over IBF champ Kermit Cintron earlier in the year, he was considered far too slow and one dimensional for the slick boxing, power punching Puerto Rican. On the night however, Cotto allowed himself to get involved in a slugfest with the bulletproof Mexican who has one of the greatest chins in boxing history and is able to walk through punches that would fell normal human beings.

As the fight progressed, Margarito's left eye began to swell, but Cotto's face became a swollen bloody mess. The normally aggressive Cotto was reduced to boxing on the retreat, relentlessly pursued by the marauding Margarito. Two knockdowns in the 11th round saw the referee come to the Puerto Rican's aid in the biggest upset of 2008.

Cotto returned the ring in 2009 with a fifth-round TKO over Britain's Michael Jennings to win the vacant WBO welterweight title, a belt he retained with a controversial split decision over Ghanaian hard man Joshua Clottey four months later. 

In November 2009, Cotto was knocked down twice and stopped in the 12th round in a fight with a surging Manny Pacquiao, hot off big victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Once again Cotto finished the fight with his face bleeding and swollen, and many experts thought that it was time for this brave warrior to consider another career.

Cotto surprised many by employing legendary trainer Emanuel Steward and stepping up to the 154  lb class to challenge New York-based Israeli Yuri Foreman for the WBA light middleweight title. Cotto had began his career as a junior welterweight, and had a two-year reign as WBO world champion in that division. Surely boxing at 154 lbs would be a stretch for his 5'7" frame - especially against an undefeated six footer like Foreman.

In June 2010 Cotto proved that he was far from finished as he put on a sensational display of boxing and punching to batter Foreman to a ninth round TKO. Cotto retained his new title with a 12th round stoppage of volatile Nicaraguan slugger Ricardo Mayorga - himself a former two-weight world champion in March of this year.

31-year-old Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs) is enjoying the prestige of being a world champion again, but his victories over Foreman and Mayorga must be put into perspective - Foreman was a built-up fighter of questionable ability and Mayorga was almost 38 years old and had boxed just once in the previous three years since he was KO'd by Shane Mosley.

Is the twice kayoed 2011 version of Miguel Cotto really good enough to gain revenge over the man who hammered him so badly three years ago?

33-year-old Antonio Margarito's (38-7, 27 KOs) career looked over when he was heavily beaten by Manny Pacquiao in a fight for the WBC light middleweight title last November. Although Margarito had caught the Filipino with some powerful shots during the course of the fight, he suffered a broken orbital bone and a detached retina as a result of Pacquiao's relentless attack. Margarito underwent emergency surgery after the fight to remove a cataract from his right eye and have an artificial lens surgically inserted.

Many believe that the Mexican should not be boxing at all and if anything should be doing jail time following the discovery of Plaster of Paris inserts in his hand wraps prior to his WBA welterweight title defense against Shane Mosley in January 2009. Mosley's trainer Naseem Richardson was in the right place at the right time when he ventured into Margarito's changing room and witnessed his trainer Javier Capetillo applying wraps which could have caused his fighter serious injury. To hear Capetillo attempt to   excuse himself earlier this week would be laughable if it were not so deadly serious:  

''I made a mistake. I wasn't trying to hide anything. I just screwed up, and I did it in front of Mosley's trainer and the commissioners. I was just under lot of pressure because I knew we shouldn't have taken the fight," said Capetillo, claiming that Margarito had dropped too much weight too quickly, leading to his (Capetillo's) decision to 'load' his fighters gloves.

"I knew Tony was in trouble and I knew that I had put him in that position. I wrapped Tony's hands four times in front of Mosley's trainer and the commissioners and two representatives from Golden Boy Promotions after they found the gauze. I admitted then that I made a mistake."

Although it can never be proven, Cotto is in no doubt that Margarito was also using loaded gloves the night he beat him, and was quoted just days ago, saying:

"Playing with the health of somebody else, attempting to kill - he used plaster on his wraps, he used a weapon on me - he has to be treated like a criminal," said Cotto during a pre-fight press conference. "In sports we use only our skills and conditioning. I've carried my loss like a man for the last three years. I didn't ask for the people to erase the defeat. That's not the issue. He has to accept what he used and what he did in 2008." 

When he was asked if he had any issue with targeting Margarito's damaged right eye during Saturday's fight Cotto said: 

"I'm going to use any kind of advantage I feel I have over him, everything I have in the ring. I'm going to fight like always, with my heart and my soul. I'm going to do my work."

Neither fighter is the same animal he was back in 2008. Margarito holds big career wins over Sergio Martinez and Joshua Clottey as well as Cintron (twice) and Cotto, but he has won just one fight in the last three years – a ten round decision over Robert Garcia. Cotto has been beaten heavily twice, and has a fighting style that was never going to lend itself to longevity.

So who will win Saturday's rematch? The problem for Cotto is that Margarito is still a nightmare proposition for him, even without the illegal wraps. The 5'11'' Mexican stands 4'' taller, with a significant reach advantage, and will weigh in at around 170 lbs on the night. Cotto might possibly train up to the light middleweight limit (gain muscle weight in training camp), and if he is over 154 lbs on the night, it will only be by a pound or two.

Without doubt Cotto is the more skilled fighter of the two, but he still needs to get into range to land his punches, which puts him right in Margarito's line of fire. 

Much as I would like to see Cotto extract what I believe would be much deserved revenge over Margarito, I see this one turning into a repeat of the first bout, with the champion taking the early rounds in a canter, but gradually being dragged into trench warfare by Margarito. 

I see both men suffering extensive facial injuries, and the action being as savage and exciting as any contest we have seen this year. By the 11th round, Margarito will be strafing a defenseless Cotto with his arsenal of straight shots to the head and scything hooks to the body, and the referee will have no choice but to stop the fight and award the victory and the WBA light middleweight title to Antonio Margarito.

Margarito by TKO in 11. 

Big Fight Odds: Miguel Cotto 8/15, Antonio Margarito 11/8  SkyBet