SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Known for boring fights, Cotto came, he conquered and most important of all...he impressed.
In front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Coliseo De Puerto Rico, Miguel Cotto impressively won the junior welterweight WBO title with a sixth round stoppage of Brazilian knockout artist Kelson Pinto.
Showing power and skill, Cotto pressed the attack from round one with sharp counter left hooks to the face and displayed incredible poise and patience in his first title fight in front of his countrymen.
"I'm fighting in front of my people, I couldn't let them down," said Cotto.
The knockout came at 2:28 of the sixth, after a left hook and a series of combinations in a corner sent Pinto crashing to the canvas. Pinto bravely managed to beat the count, but was still hurt and referee Robert Ramirez called a halt to the bout 32 seconds into the round when Pinto's corner entered the ring.
"We knew he was hurt in the previous round. My corner said 'jump on him right away' and that's what I did," said Cotto after the match.
Pinto was knocked down twice before the sixth, once in the second round by a wicked left hook, and again in the fifth round when Cotto connected with a left hook-right hand combination to the chin.
With the impressive victory, big money super fights are definitely on the horizon. But the young champion would still rather fight than worry about contractual agreements with the elite in the 140 pound division.
"I'll leave that to my promotional group, but I know with my determination and work ethic, I can beat anybody," Cotto declared.
Cotto improves to 21-0 (17 KOs) with the win as he avenged two losses to Pinto in the amateur ranks. Pinto, now 20-1 (18 KOs) suffered his first professional loss.
In the other title fight of the night, Daniel Santos retained his WBO junior middleweight title by split technical decision over WBO welterweight titleholder Antonio Margarito. The fight went to the judges scorecards after the ninth round because of a cut over Margarito's left eye.
Margarito was aggressive in the opening rounds, however surprisingly the often more cautious Santos struck first. Santos staggered Margarito in round one with an overhand left, which laid the foundation to a classic "rock 'em sock 'em" clash.
Both fighters exchanged combinations throughout, bringing the ecstatic fight crowd to their feet on several occasions.
Margarito had his best round in round five when he trapped Santos on the ropes and punished him with a barrage of punches.
Unfortunately the fight lost some momentum when an accidental head butt in the sixth round opened a deep gash above Margarito's left eye.
Sensing the fight may be stopped prematurely, both fighters began to let loose the punches. Santos became more aggressive and as a result dominated the sixth.
Not to be outdone, Margarito with blood streaming down his face, fought hard and arguably won the last few rounds before the bout was eventually stopped before the tenth.
After round nine it was ruled that Margarito could not continue and the bout went to the scorecards. Santos was up 86-85, 87-84 on two cards, while Margarito was ahead 86-85 on the third card.
Infinite Boxing scored the fight for Margarito by a score of 87-86.
Santos improved to 29-2-1 (20 KOs), while Margarito falls to 30-4 (21 KOs).
"That was the plan, to be more aggressive after the cut," said Santos' trainer, Pupy Latorre.
Margarito was aggressive in the opening rounds, however surprisingly the often more cautious Santos struck first. Santos staggered Margarito in round one with an overhand left, which laid the foundation to a classic "rock 'em sock 'em" clash. 