Cotto looks spectacular, destroys Martinez with 10th round TKO

Miguel Cotto made history tonight in front of thousands of his fellow Puerto Ricans at Madison Square Garden, just one day before the Puerto Rican parade, as he completely destroyed Sergio Martinez with a 10th round TKO on HBO PPV. 

Coming into the fight as a underdog Cotto showed that world that he still has a lot left to give in the sport of boxing by perhaps putting on the most impressive performance of his career. By winning the fight he was crowned the new WBC middleweight champion and he became the first Puerto Rican fighter in history to win world titles in four different weight classes. 

Right from the opening bell Cotto came out aggressive, not wasting ten seconds into the first round to make it known he was coming for Martinez. A shocking left hook sent Martinez to the canvas not even a minute later and it became clear that Cotto meant business. Before the end of the first round, Martinez was down two more times looking as though he may not make it to the second. 

From there Cotto took control of the fight winning every round on the judge’s scorecards until Martinez’s corner decided to stop the fight at the beginning of the 10th round. Cotto’s left hook landed at will against Martinez who had trouble getting away from the power punches of Cotto who landed %54 of his punches in the fight. Cotto’s speed was superior when it wasn’t supposed to be, his defense was superior when it wasn’t supposed to be, and his power was superior when it wasn’t supposed to be. Every aspect of the fight that most thought gave Martinez the advantage ended up being Cotto’s advantage. 

Cotto used hard body shots, straight right hands, and a devastating left hook to batter Martinez in every single round of the fight. He fought better than Martinez on the outside and decimated him on the inside with superior speed and combos often finishing with the left hook. When Martinez did throw against Cotto he often missed, and the punches that he did land had little effect on Cotto who pressed the action the entire fight. 

After the fight Cotto didn’t say anything about his plans for the future but that he would talk to trainer Freddie Roach to see who would be next. There is talk that if Canelo beat Lara next month on Showtime PPV then there could be a Canelo-Cotto showdown in December for the WBC middleweight title.