WBA Welterweight Champion Miguel Cotto, 30-0, 25 KO’s, catapulted himself into boxing stardom last night, with an exhilarating eleventh round technical knockout over the dangerous Zab Judah, 34-5, 25 KO’s, at Madison Square Garden in New York. The fight was close early, with both boxers landing crushing blows, and especially in light of a one-point deduction against Cotto for repeated low blows, the fight looked like it could go either way. However, Cotto’s persistent aggressive approach left Judah helpless as the fight entered the mid and later rounds. In the eleventh round Cotto sent Judah to the canvas on a right hand, and shortly thereafter the fight was correctly stopped, as Judah did not appear able to mount any effective defense or attack. The fight clearly lived up to the “X-Plosive” title under which it had been promoted.
The other televised bouts included a seventh round knockout for super featherweight contender Humberto Soto over Bobby Pacquiao, a third round knockout win for Julio Cesar Chavez, JR. over Grover Wiley, and Yuri Foreman took a ten-round split-decision win over Anthony Thompson.
Before the main event fighters even entered, the arena was as loud as it has ever been, with a sell-out capacity crowd of 20,658 cheering wildly for the Puerto Rican favorite Cotto and the Brooklyn-native Judah. Beautiful renditions of the Puerto Rico and U.S. National Anthems were drowned out by a roaring sea of fans, many of which were uncontrollably waving their Puerto Rico flags.
When the fight began, as many expected, it appeared that “Super” Zab’s speed was going to cause trouble for Cotto. Zab effectively used his right jab, straight left, and left hooks to get to Cotto. Mid-way through the first round, Cotto apparently hit Judah low and Zab was sent squirming to the canvas. Referee Arthur Mercante, JR. warned Cotto and the fight continued, with Judah taking the first round. On replay it became evident that Cotto’s “low blow” was on the belt-line, and Judah was guilty of a Vlade-Divac-esque flop. The Puerto Rican contingency roared with disapproval when the replay hit the big screen.
The second round proved more effective for Cotto, as he used every punch in his arsenal to push Judah around the ring. Cotto used his jab and his bread-and-butter left hook to the body to maintain a constant attack. Towards the end of the round Zab struck Cotto with a clean left cross that momentarily stunned Cotto. Cotto emerged as the aggressor and showed that he could out-work Judah, even if he could not keep up with Judah’s speed.
In the third round, Cotto caught Judah with another questionably low punch, which again sent Judah to the ground, rolling in pain. Cotto was deducted a point, though in retrospect it was his first low blow. Cotto did not complain, shook off the deduction, and went on to win the round. As the middle rounds approached, Cotto was gaining momentum and Judah seemed unable to match Cotto’s output.
Cotto was able to maintain his relentless assault through the middle rounds, and proved capable of pestering Judah’s right eye, causing blood to stream down his face for the duration of the fight. Zab occasionally landed accurate, crisp punches, usually in the form of a left hook or cross, but his attack was not nearly as consistent or effective as Cotto’s. Judah’s best round was the seventh when a flurry by Zab rocked Cotto, but the latter weathered the storm but had a badly busted lip to show for it. Cotto came out the next round as if the seventh round had never happened, and continued with his impressive offensive approach.
By the ninth round Judah’s eye was bleeding profusely and it clearly bothered him. Cotto took advantage by pressing forward and continuing the onslaught of left hooks to both the body and face. After a flurry of punches by Cotto, Judah took a knee in the corner to suspend the action, and hopefully regain some composure. Though both fighters were marked up and bleeding, it was clear that Judah was getting the worse of it, and that he was low on gas.
The eleventh round started with Judah getting put on his back by a Cotto right hand. Judah easily beat the count, but Cotto smelled blood and decided he was going to score the stoppage. Cotto approached Judah, whose hands were at his waist, and after a combination hurt Judah, referee Arthur Mercante, JR. jumped in to end the fight. The arena erupted with thunderous ovation that shook the floors. The official result was a TKO at 2:11 of the 11th round. All three judges scored each round the same and had Cotto ahead 97-91 at the stoppage.
In the post-fight press conference Zab Judah wore bug-eyed sunglasses to cover up his badly bruised right eye, though drops of blood teared out from under his lenses. Judah’s first comment was that he was, “Not here to make any excuses,” however he went on to blame the loss on the low blows and lack of proper swelling-reducing materials in his corner.
Judah repeatedly showed interest in a rematch with Cotto and ended the press-conference stating, “I’m a warrior no matter how it goes.”
Cotto, who proudly wore a swollen lip, said it was the “toughest fight of my career,” and when asked about a rematch said, “I don’t care, whatever my company says, I’ll do.”
Bob Arum insisted that Cotto and Margarito will fight next, so long as Margarito gets through his matchup with Paul Williams on July 14.
Welterweight Julio Cesar Chavez, JR., 32-0-1, 25 KO’s, took revenge for his legendary father with a third round knockout over Grover Wiley, 30-10-1, 14 KO’s. Chavez, JR. used left hooks to the body to drop Wiley once in the first round and again twice in the third round to earn the decisive knockout win.
Super featherweight contender, and potential Manny Pacquiao opponent, Humberto Soto, 42-5-2, 26 KO’s, knocked out Bobby Pacquiao, 27-13-3, 12 KO’s, in the seventh round with a brutal left hook to the ribs. Pacquiao was down in the first round, and was getting roughed up, but Pacquiao came back to unexpectedly stun Soto in round four. Pacquiao momentarily rallied, but was simply outmatched by Soto. The energetic effort was applauded by the crowd, and the knockout came at 1:48 in the seventh round.
Middleweight Yuri Foreman, 23-0, 8 KO’s, won a split decision over Anthony Thompson, 23-2, 17 KO’s. Scores were 97-93, 96-94 for Foreman, and 96-94 for Thompson.
In untelevised action: New York phenom, middleweight Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin, 13-0, 10 KO’s, cruised to a unanimous decision win over Jamal Davis, 7-2, 6 KO’s, by scores of 80-72, 80-72, 79-73. Middleweight Wayne Johnsen, 16-1, 9 KO’s, won a six-round decision over Anthony Bartinelli, 19-10-2, 12 KO’s, by the scores of 60-53, 59-54, 58-56. Junior featherweight Jesus Rojas, 8-0, 6 KO’s, out-pointed Torrance Daniels, 9-2-1, 4 KOs, by scores of 58-56, 59-55, 59-55. Super lightweight Algenis Mendez, 5-0, 4 KO’s, easily stopped Bobby Campbell, 2-3-2; Mendez knocked down Campbell three times in the first round when the fight was stopped at 1:46.
