Miguel Cotto Stops Sergio Martinez

Photo by Chris Farina for Top Rank

by Sarah Deming

Miguel Cotto made it look easy Saturday night at Madison Square Garden against lineal middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, knocking the aging Argentine down four times en route to a tenth-round TKO. Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) put his people in a party mood, becoming the first Puerto Rican to win a world title in four weight divisions.

It was a Cotto house at Jack Demsey’s. The midtown bar was hosting a viewing of the HBO PPV card to support the Dr. Theodore Atlas Foundation, the charity that funds the community gym where I coach.

Expert consensus was that Sergio Martinez (51-3-2, 28 KOs) would win this fight on size and speed (barring the recurrence of his knee or hand injuries), but the experts could learn a thing or two from the crowd at Jack Demsey’s.

“Who are you picking?” I asked Teddy Atlas.[[MORE]]

“Cotto,” he said. “Martinez relies on his legs too much. The other guy steps forward six inches, he steps back nine and counters, but he’s not as fast as he used to be. Cotto can catch him.”

We were still settling into our chicken quesadillas when Miguel Cotto’s famous left hook set up the first of three knockdowns in the opening round. Martinez was on queer street and showed great heart just making it to the second. By the third, he looked to have recovered somewhat and got the jab and left cross going.

The Nuyoricans around us began to scream, “Attack! Attack!” I wished I had brought a flag or something.

The surprising thing was how fast Cotto seemed. He was getting in, getting off, and getting out before the old champion could react. Nor did he suffer from a lack of power in his first bout at middleweight. He was hurting Martinez with both hands.

Normally the best-dressed man in boxing, Martinez looked a mess. His trunks were sagging; his mouth was wide open; there was a weird, gimpy quality to his lead leg. The diva behavior for which he had reproached Cotto now revealed its razor edge. Sometimes people are what they say they are, and Cotto owned the ring. Martinez would never win the recognition he had been chasing his whole life. It was sad. It is always sad when Time wins.

By the seventh, Martinez knew he needed a knockout, and this knowledge did him no good.

“See what’s happening?” Teddy said. “Cotto’s adjusting. Martinez has to come forward now. Cotto’s got the luxury to catch him coming, pick his spots.”

The King of the Garden brought it home beautifully for his island people. The right hands to the body were especially vicious, and when Martinez’s corner stopped it at the top of the tenth, nobody argued. All three judges had it a shutout for Cotto, whose tattooed arms looked enormous raised in victory. Put the beer on ice, because it’s going to be a hell of a Puerto Rican Day parade.