His jabs and hooks forced his opponent to the corner, then eventually end the game in the 10th round to become the WBC world middleweight champion. Miguel Cotto dominated the bout in the ring over Sergio Martinez last June 7 night at Madison Square Garden, New York City, landing 54 per cent apiece of his punches and power punches.
Cotto started to show his power in the 1st round when he knocked down Martinez thrice with body shots. It was just the start of the fight and anything could happen in the next rounds. However, as the game progressed, the bout became a one-sided affair when Cotto was unstoppable in throwing hard punches that hurt Martinez.
The Argentine boxer Martinez tried to force the game in the middle of the ring but Puerto Rican Cotto was successful to put pressure on his opponent to send him on the rope and in the corner to land as many power punches as possible.
"It was reflection of my hard work [for] 10, 11 weeks," Cotto said.
Martinez was still in his corner when the bell already rang for the 10th round. This was the time his camp decided to no longer let him continue the fight. He begged for one more round but got a "No" answer from his corner. The left hooks and uppercut he received from Cotto in the 9th round buckled his knees and knocked him down once again, forcing Martinez team to decide to not finish the remaining rounds.
Cotto improved with 39-4-0 (2 KO, 2 decisions) and became the first Puerto Rican boxer to win world championships in four divisions, including the WBC world middleweight title.
Martinez dropped with 51-3-2 (2 KO) after losing the bout in 10th round, 00:06. No word from him was uttered right after his camp waved off because he has to be sent to the hospital.
