There have been many great boxing champions from Puerto Rico, including Felix Trinidad, who will be inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame on Sunday in Canastota, N.Y.
But Miguel Cotto set himself apart from all of his countrymen Saturday night by becoming the first Puerto Rican boxer to capture a world title in four different weight divisions.
Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) claimed the WBC middleweight belt Saturday with a dramatic 10th-round TKO victory over Sergio Martinez of Argentina before more than 18,000 at Madison Square Garden.
The pay-per-view showdown wasn’t much of a contest as Cotto, fighting at middleweight for the first time in his career, looked strong, focused and determined. He dropped Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) three times in the first round and four times in the fight. Cotto was quicker, the harder puncher and at times out-boxed Martinez, who could never change the momentum of the bout.
Bleeding from his right eye, Martinez was a battered mess after the ninth round. His face was beginning to swell. When the bell sounded for the 10th round, Martinez’s corner called off the bout.
“It’s the happiest day of my life,” Cotto said. “I didn’t fight wildly after the third knockdown. I beat him with my left hook. He keeps his right hand down low. It’s easy to get my left hook in.”
Martinez opened trying to establish his right jab. Fighting out of his southpaw style, he tried to hang in with Cotto, but was hurt early in the round by a Cotto left hook. It staggered Martinez, who tried to fight back. But he was dropped moments later by a series of hooks from Cotto.
Martinez got up and tried to shake his head clear, while Cotto stayed calm waiting for an opening. Another left hook started Martinez back to the canvas for a second time. Moments later, he was down a third time from a body punch.
With no three knockdown rule in place, Martinez got up and survived the round. But he was staggered and dazed as the pro-Cotto crowd roared its approval. Cotto landed 212-of-395 punches, while Martinez connected on just 100-of-322, according to Compubox, which had Cotto landing 158 power punches.
“I’m so proud of Miguel,” Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach said. “He worked very hard and he deserved this historic victory. He was picture perfect. Miguel didn’t get hit with anything, his defense was beautiful.”
Martinez’s physical condition had been questioned coming into the fight after he had knee surgery and an extensive rehab since his last bout in April 2013. Whether it was the ring rust of not having fought in over a year or his bad knees, Martinez was an easy target for Cotto.
The athletic footwork that helped Martinez first capture the middleweight title four years ago was gone. He was forced to fight flat-footed and battle Cotto toe-to-toe. His constant retreat was more out of desperation than design.
The fourth and fifth rounds were more competitive, with Martinez using his jab enough to keep Cotto cautious. Martinez began circling in the seventh round, hoping to change the momentum of the fight. But Cotto began working the body with quick hooks to the chest and ribs.
Martinez, wearing sleeves over both knees, looked to press the action in the eighth round. But Cotto used his boxing skills, tagging Martinez with jabs and quick counter punches.
Cotto opened the ninth with a hard right hook to the head and followed with a crushing uppercut. Another right to the jaw rocked Martinez, whose right eye began to bleed from a cut. A stiff left jab from Cotto rocked Martinez to the point that referee Michael Griffin ruled it a knockdown, the fourth of the fight.
When the bell sounded for the 10th round, Martinez’s corner stopped the fight because their fighter “was unsteady and unresponsive.”
“I boxed using angles,” Cotto said. “I controlled him with my jab, backing him up the entire fight.”