THE match-up lived up to its hype as both Ricardo Mayorga and Miguel Cotto produced a barnburner of a duke-out.
Mayorga was aggressive, but not effective. He chose to attack Cotto with crude, clubbing punches, while the latter showed up with the sharper, deadlier offensive arsenal.
Cotto took his sweet time breaking down the feral Mayorga and he did so with clinical precision.
In the first few rounds, Mayorga attacked relentlessly and goaded Cotto into several exchanges. But while Cotto obliged him on several occasions, he only engaged when he felt comfortable. In contrast, ?El Matador? was wild and careless.
While the fight was pretty much even in the early going, Cotto was beginning to dictate the tempo.
In the middle rounds, Cotto started to dominate behind his jab and bodywork.
Credit has to go to Mayorga though for staying in there, punch for punch, despite being outclassed. In the end, a hand injury prevented Mayorga from continuing, but in any case the outcome was academic.
THOUGHTS. It was a good performance from Cotto, as he managed to keep his poise throughout the fight, but I expected him to stop Mayorga sooner.
When you consider that a younger, better version of the Nicaraguan bad boy was knocked out by Felix Trinidad in 2004 inside eight rounds and by Oscar de la Hoya in six back in 2006, it provides a perspective of where Cotto is right now.
I still maintain that he needs to share the same ring with Antonio Margarito in order to exorcise his demons.
MARTINEZ. In another outstanding performance, WBC middleweight champ Sergio Martinez repelled the formidable challenge put up by the previously undefeated Sergei Dzinziruk by dominating and stopping the latter inside eight rounds.
At age 36, Martinez is proving to be another physical wonder. This southpaw has it all. He?s fast, strong, and very explosive.
Some boxing scribes are now anointing him the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
Not so fast guys. Martinez was impressive, but not even all the Last Rounds in the world will make me mistake Dzinziruk for Antonio Margarito.
PINOY PRIDE 5. Once again, it?s time to come out and show your support for local fighters this March 19 at the Cebu City Waterfront Hotel and Casino as Milan Melindo faces Mexican beakbuster Rosendo Vega.
The latter comes in with a record of 16-6, 11 KOs, but has faced top-notch opposition.
His last fight came against current WBA Daiki Kameda where he lost via unanimous decision.
However, I expect ?El Metodico? Melindo to deliver another systematic beating and end matters in round seven.
A more interesting sidebar is AJ Banal facing veteran Francis Miyeyusho of Tanzania (29-8, 17KOs).
Miyeyusho is a crafty southpaw with decent power who will surely test Banal?s fortitude under pressure.
In his last fight, ?Bazooka? Banal was having his way with former world champion Luis Perez when he got caught by a counter and almost immediately began to wilt.
As fate would have it, Perez fouled him , which allowed Banal to escape with a disqualification win. To most ringsiders, this Last Rounder included, AJ was probably saved by that foul.
Can Banal finally show us some resiliency?
Other local talent seeing action against foreign counterparts are Marjohn Yap, Romeo Jakosalem and Rocky Fuentes.
LAST ROUND. It?s on my Yakal buddy who now resides in lovely Boston- Edge Genosa. Happy birthday and cheers!
