By: William Holmes
The undercard of tonight’s pay per view event featured a lot of knockouts, but the last bout before the main event had put most of the crowd to sleep.
However, once the Sonsona and Vazquez bout had ended the crowd started to awaken and Madison Square Garden was packed. The Argentinian, Puerto Rican, and American National Anthems were sung before the participants in the main event entered the ring.
The crowd, not surprisingly, was strongly behind Miguel Cotto. Miguel Cotto, despite being the crowd favorite, came into the ring first with no entrance music. Martinez, the defending champion, came out second and was greeted with a chorus of boos.
The following is a round by round account of the main event of the night.
Sergio Martinez (51-2-2) vs. Miguel Cotto (38-4); WBC Middleweight Title
Rd 1: The crowd is loudly behind Miguel Cotto as he chases his fourth world title in a fourth weight division. Martinez has knee pads on both of his knees. Martinez looks to be the much bigger fighter inside the ring. Martinez lands an early jab and is circling away from Cotto. Cotto lands a jab of his own and a straight right hand. Martinez connects with another jab, but Cotto answers with a left hook. Cotto rocks Martinez with a left hook and then bangs to the body of Martinez. Martinez holds on but the crowd is going nuts. Cotto knocks Martinez down face first and the building erupts. Cotto lands another good left hook on Martinez. Cotto with a short right hook to the head and body of Martinez. Martinez goes down again. Madison Square Garden is deafening. Cotto lands a body shot and Martinez goes down for the third time in the round. Cotto’s left hook has done some serious damage in the first round. 10-6 Cotto.
Rd 2: Martinez still looks a little dazed as the second round begins. Martinez is circling away from Cotto, but he’s circling towards Cotto’s right hand. The crowd is deafening. Martinez lands a crisp straight left. Cotto lands another good left hook. Martinez misses with a straight left. Cotto looks a lot quicker than Martinez, and Martinez slips to the floor and it is ruled a slip. Martinez barely misses with a straight left. Cotto connects with a straight right hand. Cotto bangs several punches to the body of Martinez. Cotto’s left hook rocks Martinez again. 10-9 Cotto.
Rd 3: Cotto lands another good left hook and mixes it to the body and head of Martinez. Martinez lands a straight left hand. Martinez throws out another straight left. Cotto has control of the center of the ring. Martinez ties up with Cotto before he can get trapped in the corner. Martinez lands a short jab. Cotto is not afraid of Martinez’s power and is constantly coming forward. Cotto lands two more good body shots on Martinez. Martinez with a quick three punch combination. Martinez looks to finally have his feet back. Martinez is able to slip a flurry from corner when his back is against the corner. Martinez with a quick jab to Cotto’s face. Solid jab by Martinez. Martinez with another good jab. 10-9 Martinez.
Rd 4: Martinez is still circling towards Cotto’s power hand. Martinez with two quick jabs to the face of Cotto. Cotto with a good body shot on Martinez. Martinez snaps a straight left in the face of Cotto. Lots of feints from both boxers this round. Cotto with a good two punch combination. Cotto lands another good left hook on Martinez and Martinez tells Cotto to come forward. Cotto with a short straight right and is out boxing Martinez so far. Martinez with a good straight left upstairs. Martinez with a left to the temple of Cotto. Cotto lands a quick jab. Martinez with another straight left hand. 10-9 Cotto, but a close round.
Rd 5: Martinez moves out of the way from a combination by Cotto and connects with a straight left. The referee calls for a quick break to pull up Martinez’s pants. Martinez misses with a double jab and Cotto rips a left hook to the body of Martinez. Cotto misses with a right hook. Cotto misses with another combination. Martinez lands a straight left to the body. Martinez does appear to be pushing his punches. Martinez has not found his range. Good straight left from Martinez, but Cotto answers with a straight right. The crowd again loudly cheers on Cotto. Good combination to the body by Cotto. Good straight left to the body by Martinez, and he follows it with another combination to the body. 10-9 Cotto.
Rd 6: Martinez lands a quick jab to the face of Cotto. Cotto lands a thudding left hook to Martinez’s temple. Cotto looks very light on his feet. Martinez connects with three jabs and a cross to the body. Martinez lands another good jab on Cotto. Martinez lands a straight left to Cotto’s head and follows it with a two punch combination. Cotto connects with a combination to the body of Martinez. Martinez with two jabs and a left hook to the head of Cotto. Martinez with a short straight left to Cotto’s face again. Cotto lunges with a jab, and Martinez answers with a two punch combination to the body. Hard body shot by Cotto. Cotto with a two punch combination. Close round, 10-9 Cotto.
Rd 7: Martinez with two quick jabs but they are short of its target. Martinez barely misses with a straight left hand. Cotto with a combination to the body of Martinez and ends the combo upstairs. Martinez with a good straight left hand. Cotto answers with a sharp jab. Martinez lands a good left hand that snaps the head of Cotto. Martinez with another good jab. Martinez is looking much better in the opening half of this round. Cotto with a right to the body of Martinez. Martinez with a good jab. Martinez’s knees got buckled from a right hand by Cotto but Martinez looks to be ok. Cotto thuds a straight right to the face of Martinez. 10-9 Cotto.
Rd 8: The corner of Martinez is soaking wet. Martinez needs to press the pace if he wants to win this fight. Martinez with a short straight left. Martinez with a jab to the face of Cotto. Cotto barely misses with a right uppercut. Martinez reaches and misses with a straight left hand. Martinez lands a good jab on Cotto. Martinez does not appear to have the power he used to have. Martinez with two good jabs. Cotto catches Martinez with a straight right hand. Cotto with a good body shot on Martinez. Cotto with a two punch combination and Martinez complains about a head butt. Cotto is sharp with his jab. Martinez lands a good jab, and then slips to the ground. Martinez’s knees are not there. Cotto connects with a hard right hand near the end of the round. 10-9 Cotto.
Rd 9: Cotto has a bounce in his step and looks very confident. Martinez with a good straight left and follows it up with another straight left. Cotto is stalking Martinez and thuds a hard jab off the face of Martinez. Cotto lands a crisp right hand on Martinez. Cotto rocks Martinez with a left uppercut. Cotto rocks Martinez again with a right hand and then bangs the body of Martinez. Cotto with a three punch combination on Martinez by the ropes and snaps the head of Martinez with a hard jab. Cotto is in total command at this point. Cotto looks to be close to stopping Martinez. Cotto lands another straight right hand. Martinez misses with a wild right hook. Cotto momentarily traps Martinez by the ropes. Cotto lands another knockdown as the referee rules that Martinez’s knee hit the canvas after Cotto lands a punch. 10-8 Cotto.
Rd 10: Martinez’s corner stops the fight as Martinez had taken a serious amount of punishment. Amazing performance by Miguel Cotto in what may have been his best performance of his career.
Miguel Cotto wins the WBC Middleweight Belt by a 10th round TKO after Martinez failed to answer the bell.