NEW YORK // As Freddie Roach recalled, he recently received a phone call from Miguel Cotto, who suggested he had only three fights left.
Judging by his performance on Saturday night, Cotto has plenty left in the tank.
Cotto became the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world championships in four weight divisions, stopping Sergio Martinez in their WBC world middleweight title fight on Saturday night.
“It was a reflection of my hard work (for) 10, 11 weeks,” Cotto said.
Martinez did not get off the stool when the bell rang for the 10th round. He did not speak to the media after the fight, as he was taken to a hospital as a precaution.
“Miguel beat him from pillar to post,” Lou DiBella, Martinez’s promoter, said. “Miguel Cotto is a great champion.”
Cotto improved to 39-4 and is 8-1 at Madison Square Garden. Martinez fell to 51-3-2.
According to Todd duBoef, president of Top Rank, the attendance was 21,090, and the gross gate was under US$5 million (Dh18.3m).
In the week leading up to the fight, Roach, Cotto’s trainer, said his pupil would be able to use his footwork to control the fight, and still possessed power even though he moved up in weight class.
Cotto proved Roach right from the opening bell, knocking down Martinez twice in the first round with a flurry of body shots. As the fight progressed, Cotto pressured Martinez around the ring, and attacked when openings were presented.
Cotto won every round, including a 10-6 first.
“Miguel fought a really great fight,” Roach said. “Thank you, Miguel, for making me look so good.
“He really gave the guy a boxing lesson.”
Martinez forced Cotto to fight in the middle of the ring instead of on the ropes or in the corners. But Cotto was able to land a variety of jabs and hooks. By the end of the eighth round, Martinez had swelling around his right eye. He also had a cut on his forehead due to a head-butt.
Both cuts were glued shut.
Cotto landed 54 per cent of his punches, and 54 per cent of his power punches. By comparison, Martinez connected on 31 percent of his punches, and landed 60 of 157 power punches.
“Martinez couldn’t hurt him,” Roach said. “Miguel listened to the game plan.”
The Cotto-Martinez fight was the main event of a nine-fight card.
Marvin Sonsona (19-1-1) became the NABF featherweight champion with a 10-round split decision win over Wilfredo Vasquez Jr (23-4-1).
“He’s a dirty, rotten fighter,” Vasquez said. “When I pressured him, he held. He landed one good punch, the punch that knocked me down.”
Javier Maciel (29-3) won the USNBC super welterweight title, defeating Jorge Melendez (28-4-1) by split decision, and Andy Lee (32-2) stopped John Jackson (18-2) with a left hook in the fifth round.
“I ran into a bad one,” Jackson said. “What a lucky punch.”
Prior to the main card bouts, Felix Verdejo improved to 13-0 with a first-round technical knockout of Engelberto Valenzuela (9-2); and Jose Lopez (13-0) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Raul Hidalgo (21-11-0-1) to retain the WBC super bantam FECARBOX title.
Jose Pedraza moved to 17-0 with a first-round technical knockout of Arturo Uruzquieta (15-6); and Willie Nelson improved to 22-1-1 with a first-round technical knockout of Darryl Cunningham (29-7). In his first professional bout, Jantory Ortiz stopped Elio Ruiz (1-5) in the first round.
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The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 650hp at 6,750rpm
Torque: 800Nm from 2,500-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 11.12L/100km
Price: From Dh796,600
On sale: now
MATCH INFO
Liverpool 2 (Van Dijk 18', 24')
Brighton 1 (Dunk 79')
Red card: Alisson (Liverpool)
COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
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RESULTS
Welterweight
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) beat Mostafa Radi (PAL)
(Unanimous points decision)
Catchweight 75kg
Anas Siraj Mounir (MAR) beat Leandro Martins (BRA)
(Second round knockout)
Flyweight (female)
Manon Fiorot (FRA) beat Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
(RSC in third round)
Featherweight
Bogdan Kirilenko (UZB) beat Ahmed Al Darmaki
(Disqualification)
Lightweight
Izzedine Al Derabani (JOR) beat Rey Nacionales (PHI)
(Unanimous points)
Featherweight
Yousef Al Housani (UAE) beat Mohamed Fargan (IND)
(TKO first round)
Catchweight 69kg
Jung Han-gook (KOR) beat Max Lima (BRA)
(First round submission by foot-lock)
Catchweight 71kg
Usman Nurmogamedov (RUS) beat Jerry Kvarnstrom (FIN)
(TKO round 1).
Featherweight title (5 rounds)
Lee Do-gyeom (KOR) v Alexandru Chitoran (ROU)
(TKO round 1).
Lightweight title (5 rounds)
Bruno Machado (BRA) beat Mike Santiago (USA)
(RSC round 2).
Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.
'Ashkal'
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