Tag Archives: Miguel Cotto

Xander Zayas Defeats Patrick Teixeira by Unanimous Decision

Posted on by
Reply

Xander Zayas is proving he’s a contender…

The 21-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, touted as a contender since he was a teenager, dominated Patrick Teixeira in a unanimous decision victory on Saturday night in New York City to remain undefeated as a junior middleweight prospect.

Zayas (19-0, 12 KOs) also helped establish his boxing future in a different way at Hulu Theater inside Madison Square Garden. The native of San Juan was fighting on the weekend of the Puerto Rico Day Parade, a tradition for fighters from the island to be stars of the show at the Garden. Miguel Cotto and Felix Trinidad are among those who’ve made this tradition memorable.

Zayas, who signed with Top Rank when he was 16 and made his pro debut six weeks after his 17th birthday, marched forward from the start with attacks to the body.

He landed 10 body punches in the second round and another nine in the third, while Teixeira managed just three during those six minutes. That put Zayas in full control, and by the end of the fight, he had landed 76 body punches to 12 for Teixeira.

Zayas’ overall advantage in punches landed was 204-63, and he was threatening from start to finish.

But Teixeira (34-5, 25 KOs), who held the WBO junior middleweight world championship in 2021, stood tough and made it to the final bell.

Zayas moved his attack upstairs in Round 8 and snapped Teixeira’s head back several times with hooks and uppercuts. By the end of the ninth, the face of the 33-year-old Brazilian was bloody, and he was in survival mode, moving away from Zayas and throwing little offense back at the young fighter. Teixeira’s movement and toughness enabled him to make it to the end.

Two of the three judges scored every round for Zayas, while the third gave Teixeira one round.

“Thank you to the people of Puerto Rico,” Zayas said afterward. “Since I’m 5 years old, I’ve been dreaming about this.”

Miguel Cotto Named to International Boxing Hall of Fame

Posted on by
Reply

Miguel Cotto entering the hall…

The 41-year-old Puerto Rican former professional boxer will be enshrined into the International Boxing Hall of Fame, alongside Roy Jones Jr. and James Toney.

Miguel Cotto,Cotto, Jones and Toney highlight the Boxing Hall’s Class of 2022, as revealed on Tuesday.

They’re joined by female champions Holly Holm and Regina Hamlisch, alongside publicist Bill Caplan, journalist Ron Borges and historian/producer Bob Yalen.

When they’re all inducted on June 12 in Canastota, New York, the group will be accompanied by the previous two classes. Because of the pandemic, fighters from those classes — such as Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward and Wladimir Klitschko — have yet to be enshrined.

Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs) retired at age 37 following an upset loss to Sadam Ali. One of the most accomplished boxers from Puerto Rico, Cotto routinely fought before sellout crowds at Madison Square Garden, thrilling the masses with his ferocious body punching.

Cotto won titles at 147 pounds and 154 before he upset Sergio Martinez for the middleweight championship. Cotto competed with three Hall of Famers during his career: a win over Shane Mosley and losses to Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. Cotto was also defeated by future Hall of Famer Canelo Alvarez.

Cotto’s loss to Antonio Margarito in 2008 is a welterweight classic. He later avenged the defeat.

Juan Manuel Marquez to Fight Miguel Cotto in Exhibition Match

Posted on by
Reply

Juan Manuel Marquez is heading back to the ring…

The 47-year-old Mexican former professional boxer and former four-division world champion is planning to fight against fellow former four-division champ Miguel Cotto in an exhibition match on June 12 in Miami, according to ESPN.

Juan Manuel Marquez

Even as an exhibition, Cotto-Marquez will add to the rich boxing rivalry between Puerto Rico and Mexico.

Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs) has not fought since May 2014, when he got off the canvas to beat Mike Alvarado in his 64th professional fight.

Marquez has won titles at featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight. Marquez was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2019.

Cotto (41-6, 33 KOs), of Caguas, Puerto Rico, last fought on December 2, 2017, in a unanimous decision loss to Sadam Ali.

He has won world titles at junior welterweight, welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight.

The source added that a fight between WBC flyweight interim titlist McWilliams Arroyo and Francisco Rodríguez could be part of the undercard. An official announcement is expected to be made on April 12.

El Nuevo Día was first to report the fight.

Canelo Alvarez Edges Gennady Golovkin by Majority Decision to Capture the WBC and WBA Middleweight Titles

Posted on by
Reply

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is el campeon…

The 29-year-old Mexican superstar boxer scored the signature win of his career in this weekend’s long-awaited rematch with Gennady Golovkin, capturing the WBC and WBA middleweight titles by a majority decision in a classic encounter that all but guarantees a third installment in May.

Canelo Alvarez

Two of the finest pure fighters of their generation treated the sellout crowd of 21,965 at the T-Mobile Arena to a contest of extreme physical and psychological intensity that managed even to surpass their electric first meeting last year, which ended in a widely derided split draw.

This one was just as close and not entirely beyond dispute, merely flecked by controversy rather than defined by it.

Ringside judges Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld scored it 115-113 to Álvarez, while Glenn Feldman had it 114-114.

Álvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs), the popular red-haired boxer from Guadalajara, now adds Golovkin’s belts at 160lbs to the lineal middleweight title he earned by virtue of a 2015 win over Miguel Cotto.

“I showed my victory with facts,” Álvarez said afterward through an interpreter. “He was the one who was backing up. I feel satisfied because I gave a great fight. It was a clear victory.”

For Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs), the razor-thin verdict marked his first defeat in 40 professional fights, the first at any level since the 2005 amateur world championships, and ended his division-record streak of 20 consecutive middleweight title defenses on level terms with Bernard Hopkins, who incidentally is a minor stakeholder in Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Álvarez.

Cotto Soundly Defeats Sergio Martinez to Win the Middleweight Championship

Posted on by
Reply

It’s a win “four” the history books for Miguel Cotto…

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, in what ESPN calls “an absolute tour de force,” won the middleweight championship of the world and made boxing history on Saturday night by stopping Sergio Martinez in the 10th round at Madison Square Garden.

Miguel Cotto

Cotto scored four knockdowns — three in the first round — in a remarkably dominant performance. After he dropped Martinez in the ninth round, Martinez was still on his stool when trainer Pablo Sarmiento would not let him continue, and referee Michael Griffin stopped the bout six seconds into the 10th round.

The largely Puerto Rican crowd of 21,090, who were mostly there for Cotto on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Parade in New York, erupted in cheers.

With the overwhelming victory, Cotto made the Puerto Rican history that was his motivation for taking the fight — to become the first boxer from the island to win world titles in four weight classes.

Puerto Rican greats such as Wilfredo Benitez, Wilfredo Gomez and Felix Trinidad — all International Boxing Hall of Famers — each won world titles in three weight classes and became legends.

Now Cotto is one better than them.

“Happiest day of my life,” Cotto said. “This is the biggest achievement of my professional career.”

Cotto, who has won world titles at middleweight, junior middleweight, welterweight and junior welterweight, won every round and was ahead 90-77 on all three scorecards when the fight was stopped.

“I’m proud of Miguel. He worked so hard,” said Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, in only his second fight with Cotto. “He deserves this historic victory.”