After months of an incident-filled, antagonistic promotion, Miguel Cotto and Ricardo Mayorga delivered an equally entertaining fight on SHOWTIME PPV® ending with a TKO victory for Cotto at 0:53 in the twelfth round. Cotto (36-2, 29 KOs), from Caguas, Puerto Rico, summed it up perfectly: “The whole fight was great but the finish was amazing.” In a fight that both camps predicted would end in less than four rounds, Cotto and Mayorga gave the 7,247 in attendance at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and boxing fans watching at home on pay-per-view more than their money’s worth by pushing the action-packed fight into the twelfth round.
Mayorga (29-8-1, 23 KOs), from Managua, Nicaragua, carried his pre-fight bravado into the ring with taunts and sarcastic smiles. In the third round, “El Matador” ran into a neutral corner and attempted to goad Cotto into a corner-of-the-ring brawl. Unlike a bull that might jump at a matador’s invitation, the completely unfazed Cotto kept his cool and boxed the wild puncher. Cotto’s devastating jab landed repeatedly throughout the bout, causing major swelling over Mayorga’s left eye. Cotto’s shots were shorter, sharper and harder than Mayorga’s, as predicted by trainer Emanuel Steward.
Though never truly rocking the champion 154-pounder. Mayorga caused problems for Cotto by fighting from odd angles and landing looping punches. Leading into the final round, Mayorga knew he needed a knockout and, as he did at so many other points in the fight, went for broke.
Unfortunately for the Nicaraguan fighter, what broke – or at the very least dislocated – was his left thumb. Amidst a flurry of punches, Cotto’s and Mayorga’s hands clashed just before Cotto landed his signature left hook square on Mayorga’s cheek and the combined pain forced Mayorga to his knee while gripping at his hand. Mayorga stood up to continue but realized he couldn’t close his left hand and decided to end the fight.
“I tried to finish the final round but the pain in my hand was too much,” said Mayorga. “I don’t care about my thumb; I didn’t want it to end like that.”
The TKO victory for Cotto served as the first title defense of his World Boxing Association (WBA) super welterweight championship since winning it in Yankee Stadium over Foreman last summer. He has now won 16 of his 18 world championship bouts.
After the fight, the humble Pride of Puerto Rico complemented his opponent, “[Mayorga] has pretty strong hands and he could beat anyone.”
Mayorga showed a rare bit of respect in return, “As a man, I have to admit when I do well and when I do not. Give Cotto credit,” said Mayorga. “He hits hard and is a great champion.”
The scintillating clash marked the end of the first co-promotion between legends Bob Arum and Don King in five years and proved to be another classic.
Cotto should fight margeritto or just retire. He’s damaged goods
oh yea martinez is to big @jay but the good thing about martinez is that he also can fight at the 154 division. i mean i know for a fact it wont happen this year but its gonna happen. i got my bets on margarito and maybe j.r for this year….
I agree bori-4-life cotto looked good but I still think martinez is to big. If they do fight martinez better gaurd his grill cuz cotto will recunstruckt his face for him.
if martinez fights they way he fought against dzinz he wont win against cotto. martinez will show boat until he gets rocked. cotto is a fighter and now getting better trained and seems to me he is more focused. he got the power speed and now learning the sweet science. i see nothn but gd things for cotto…..
Cotto will get dominated by Martinez. After this performance I give Cotto credit but I got to tip my hat to Mayorga as well he brought it and came game to fight. A better fight then I thought it would be but Cotto could have done better.
Yes I would like to see cotto vs Martinez fight. Cotto will win the fight.Martinez got knock down to,he is a class act and showboat
I DONT KNOW WHAT FIGHT GUEST POST WAS WATCHING BUT COTTO GOT ROCKED A FEW TIMES. THE FIGHT WAS BETTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE, AND THE BEST MAN WON.INSIDE THE RING AND OUT.COTTO IS A CLASS ACT. I WOULD LIKE TO SEE MARTINEZ VS COTTO NEXT.
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