Cotto Closes Abdullaev's Eye

NEW YORK, NY - Miguel Cotto remained the undefeated WBO super lightweight champion last night when his scheduled 12-round fight with Muhammad Abdullaev was stopped 57 seconds into the ninth round because the challenger's right eye was completely shut.

The victory at Madison Square Garden improved Cotto, of Puerto Rico, to 24-0 (20 KOs) and avenged his loss to Abdullaev in the 2000 Olympics.

Abdullaev, ranked No. 5 by the WBO, lost for only the second time in 17 fights. He signaled for referee John Callas to stop the fight.

"He took a hard right to the eye in the sixth round," said Fritz Sdunek, the head trainer of the 31-year- old native of Uzbekistan. "That's when the trouble started and even though we kept applying ice, it kept getting worse."

Cotto was leading on all the cards, 79-73 on two, 78-74 on the other.

Both fighters weighed 138 3/4 pounds.

Abdullaev beat Cotto in the opening round of the 2000 Olympics and went on to win the gold medal.

"He still had the same style from when I fought him in the Olympics," said Cotto, who was making his third title defense. "He was strong and came forward through the fight just as he did in the Olympics, but tonight I worked him well. He's a great athlete, but he was hurt and he knew his body couldn't go on any longer."

In the co-feature, Almazbek Raiymkulov and Joel Casamayor fought to a 12-round draw in a WBO lightweight elimination fight.

Raiymkulov, ranked No. 4 by the WBA, was knocked down in the first round by the first punch thrown by Casamayor. The punch cut him over his right eye, but he was able to recover and fight to the draw.

Raiymkulov, originally from Krygystan, is now a German resident who fights out of Las Vegas under the name Kid Diamond. He weighed 134 1/2 pounds and has a record of 20-0-1 with 12 knockouts.

Casamayor, former Olympic gold medalist for Cuba who now fights out of Miami, weighed 133 1/2 pounds. His record is 31-3-1 with 19 knockouts.

Casamayor landed 140 punches, two more than Raiymkulov, who had a tremendous advantage in punches thrown, 646-468.

Sonny Banerjee
Editor-in-chief

Information from other publications and wire services was used in the compilation of this report.