Two

HBO Championship Boxing PPV

Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito

July 26, 2008

MGM Grand Garden Arena

 Las Vegas, Nevada

Featured Bout:

WBA Welterweight Title Bout (12 Rds)

Champion Miguel Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs) vs. Antonio Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs)

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Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito Launch

"The Battle" of Welterweight Superpowers Saturday, July 26 At MGM Grand Las Vegas

Tickets Now On Sale

LAS VEGAS – The battle is on as welterweight superpowers Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito will square-

off in a compelling and eagerly awaited world title fight Saturday, July 26 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“The Battle!” (“La Batalla!”) will determine the division’s champion and arguably boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-

pound fighter. Promoted by Top Rank, the fight will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View

beginning at 9 p.m.EST/6 p.m. PST.

Tickets priced at $700, $500, $300, $200 and $100 are now on sale and available at any MGM Grand box

office outlet and all Las Vegas Ticketmaster locations (select Smith’s Food and Drug Centers, and Macy’s

West at the Fashion Show Mall). Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a

major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (702) 474-4000. Tickets also are available for purchase at

www.mgmgrand.com or www.ticketmaster.com.

Promoter Bob Arum believes this fight will be a big one saying, “Cotto vs. Margarito is such a compelling

fight because both champions bring so many powerful assets into it. They are both in their prime, at the top

of their game and they are fighting with so much at stake professionally and personally. Every fight they have

fought has been a buildup to this exciting showdown and soon we will find out which one is the world’s best

welterweight. This is more than just a world title fight. It’s a mandate.”

This fight marks the first time Cotto has fought in Las Vegas since 2004 when he knocked out Randall

Bailey in the sixth round, en route to successfully defending his World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior

welterweight title for the first time. “I am thrilled to finally be fighting Antonio Margarito in the biggest fight of

my career, in Las Vegas – the fight capital of the world,” said Cotto.

“I am a fighting champion which means not only staying active, but staying active against the best fighters

man enough to stand up to me. Like Shane Mosley and Zab Judah before him, Margarito represents the

biggest challenge of my career. And like Mosley and Judah, Margarito will leave the ring second best. I can’t

wait to get to him.”

Cotto (32-0, 26 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, a two-division world champion, won the WBO junior

welterweight championship in September 2004, knocking out undefeated contender Kelson Pinto for the

vacant title. He successfully defended the belt six times during his two-year reign before vacating it to

challenge undefeated contender Carlos Quintana. He stopped Quintana in the fifth round to capture the

World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight crown in December 2006. Cotto has successfully defended it

four times, going the distance only once.

Margarito returns to Las Vegas for the first time in more than two years. In February 2006 he knocked out

Manuel Gomez in the first round in defense of his WBO welterweight belt. Margarito said, “I have wanted this

fight against Cotto for so long. I am going to make that ring a pressure cooker for Cotto. I will be in one gear

for our fight – forward. I will wear him down, break him down and knock him out. July 26 can’t come fast

enough for me.”

Margarito (36-5, 26 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico, is a two-time welterweight champion. He knocked out

Antonio Diaz in the 10th round to capture the vacant WBO title in March 2002. He successfully defended it

seven times during his five-year reign before losing it to Paul Williams in July 2007 via a close 12-round

decision. He captured the International Boxing Federation (IBF) title in his most recent fight on April 12,

knocking out defending champion Kermit Cintron in the sixth round.

Mark Taffet, of HBO Pay-Per-View, agreed saying, “Cotto-Margarito is a premier matchup between two of the

best and toughest welterweights in the world today. It is the type of head-to-head, toe-to-toe championship

battle that fight fans love.”

MGM MIRAGE President of Sports & Entertainment Richard Sturm said, “We are thrilled to be working with

Top Rank on this championship fight. I can’t think of a better way to heat up the summer than by watching

the war between these two great champions at MGM Grand in July.”

The Cotto vs. Margarito pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. EST/6 p.m. PST, has a suggested retail

price of $49.95, will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 71

million pay-per-view homes. The telecast will be available in HD-TV for those viewers who can receive HD.

HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For Cotto vs.

Margarito fight week updates, log on to www.hbo.com.

For room packages and availability and event ticket information about the MGM Grand, call (800) 929-1111

or (702) 891-7777 or log onto the World Wide Web at www.mgmgrand.com.

The MGM Grand Garden Arena is home to concerts, championship boxing and premier sporting and special

events. The Arena offers comfortable seating for as many as 16,800 with excellent sightlines and state-of-

the-art acoustics, lighting and sound. Prominent events to date have included world championship fights

between Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson as well as Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather and George

Foreman vs. Michael Moorer; and concerts by The Rolling Stones, Madonna, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen,

Paul McCartney, Bette Midler, Gloria Estefan, Janet Jackson, Phil Collins, Billy Joel, Backstreet Boys, ‘N

Sync, Sting, Jimmy Buffett and the Barbra Streisand Millennium Concert. The MGM Grand Garden Arena

also is home to the annual Academy of Country Music Awards (ACMA) and U.S. Open of Motocross.

- Press Release issued by the MGM Grand with a little editing from us (color, etc...)

Subject to change

(7/24/08)