Miguel Cotto shocked the boxing world by hammering Sergio Martinez into a ninth round retirement in a night of high drama in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
Sports fans should now expect a rematch between Cotto and Floyd Mayweather to be announced within the next couple of weeks following the Puerto Rican?s astonishing performance on Saturday in New York City.
At the legendary MSG, scene of many of Cotto?s biggest wins, the Puerto Rican idol pulled off the biggest victory of his career as he completely dominated lineal and WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez from the opening bell, forcing the brave but out-gunned Argentinian?s corner to pull him out of the contest after nine one-sided rounds, much to the elation of the 21,000 mainly Puerto Rican fans in attendance.
WBC welterweight champion Mayweather has been looking at an opponent for a fight in September, with a rematch against recent challenger Marcos Maidana his most likely option ? until now. Suddenly, Mayweather vs. Cotto 2 is the biggest fight in boxing, and could even break the box-office records set last year by Mayweather?s fight with Saul Alvarez. It could happen as soon as September, but may be pushed back to November for promotional purposes.
The undefeated American has long harbored ambitions of winning the world middleweight title, and a fight with Sergio Martinez was often discussed, with inside skinny being that camp-Mayweather considered the Argentinian to be simply too big. Now that Cotto is the champion and a fighter Mayweather has already beaten (via a points decision in May 2012), he knows that he will never have a better opportunity to cement his boxing legacy as a legitimate six-weight world champion, something only Manny Pacquiao has achieved.
From Cotto?s perspective, nothing would make more sense both financially and for his own legacy than a rematch with Mayweather. Based on his performance against Martinez and after Marcos Maidana laid out the blueprint on how to beat Mayweather last month, Cotto would surely fancy his chances to land a career-high payday plus become the first man to defeat Mayweather.
But back to Saturday?s action, and as the bigger draw in the bout, Cotto had wanted to enter the ring last – a privilege traditionally reserved for the defending champion, but on the night he deferred and came into the ring first. When the opening bell rang, it immediately became apparent how bulky and powerful Cotto looked at middleweight, and the much-discussed size advantage for Martinez was clearly no longer a factor.
Cotto was the aggressor from the off, showing excellent footwork, a tight defense when moving forward, and a clubbing left hook that was to be the key punch of the fight.
Cotto could not have dreamed of a better start as he floored Martinez three times in the opening round, as the 39-year old champion looked stunned and bemused rather than hurt. Had the fight been in Nevada instead of New York, it would have been over after the third knockdown, but the State of New York doesn?t enforce a three-knockdown rule.
Although a first round KO might have been an even more dramatic following-day headline, it would have robbed fans of seeing Cotto put on a boxing and punching master-class. The 33-year old Puerto Rican would fight at a phenomenal pace and keep the pressure on Martinez for the rest of the bout, and actually seemed to be getting stronger the further the fight went.
To his credit, Martinez was never badly hurt again, (and was never really stunned in any of the opening round knockdowns) but he was forced to endure a systematic beat-down as the bulldozer like Cotto pursued him relentlessly and Martinez ? once one of the hardest hitters in the middleweight division – did not have the power to earn Cotto?s respect nor keep him at bay.
In the third, Martinez looked like he might be turning the tide as he moved better, dropped his hands by his sides confidently ? the only round in which he did that ? and let his punches go, and had a relieved look on his face when he returned to his corner. But Cotto was right back in control by the fourth, and tagged Martinez with another left hook.
Martinez?s best punch is his powerful left, but he barely used it in the fight, only unleashing it in round six where he briefly backed Cotto up and won only his second round of the night.
Martinez was cut in the seventh round, and by the eighth was barely punching back. He looked to have touched down with a knee in the ninth and was given a count as Cotto had him reeling around the ring. After the round, trainer Pablo Sarmiento was heard telling his man that his legs were not working and he was pulling him out. Martinez was a warrior to the end and begged for one more round but to no avail.
Martinez has suffered severe knee problems for the last two years of his career and endured two operations. He was wearing thick rubber supports around his knees on the night that may have protected his knees but robbed him of a degree of flexibility and mobility.
Physically, Martinez looked below par. The 5?7?? Cotto was a chunky 161 lbs. rehydrated on the night, while Martinez – three inches taller – was only 165, nine pounds of muscle lighter than the rehydrated but rock-hard 174 lbs. he was when he blitzed Paul Williams in two rounds in 2010.
Sergio?s lack of muscle mass was as much a factor as his suspect knees in his performance. Had he been carrying his usual upper body mass, he may have been able to punch with more authority and keep Cotto at bay. He may still have lost the fight, but would at least have given a better account of himself. Even in the clinches Cotto?s strength was apparent as he bulled Martinez around at will.
Right now Cotto is the hottest ticket in boxing for two reasons ? he looked sensational, and with his aggressive fighting style is always a big PPV seller, but crucially, he is still the same Miguel Cotto who was badly beaten by Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao, and outpointed by Mayweather and Austin Trout, and thus vulnerable.
Vicious punching WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin would clearly love a crack at Cotto, as would unbeaten WBO title holder Peter Quillin, but both of those bouts would be high-risk, low-reward encounters in comparison to a Mayweather rematch. Cotto was on a guaranteed $10 million for Saturday night?s fight with Martinez ? he would double that and then some in a Mayweather rematch.
