Miguel Cotto retained his WBA welterweight championship with an 11th-round stoppage of Zab Judah in front of a capacity crowd of more than 20,000 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
The 26-year-old unbeaten Puerto Rican finished off his American opponent at 49 seconds of the round, when referee Arthur Mercante Jr stepped in to stop the contest shortly after Cotto had knocked down Judah for the second time in the bout.
Judah, a former undisputed champion, started brightly by stunning Cotto with a left hand in the first round, but the defending champion gradually wore down the challenger with a bruising attack to head and body.
After defending his title for a second time, Cotto's record improved to 30-0 with 25 knockouts, while Judah fell to 34-5, also with 25 knockouts. "I expected a tough fight and that's exactly what I got," Cotto told reporters. "He sure did land some great punches, but I was prepared for them. I trained hard. I could tell, round by round, I was taking over the fight."
A succession of left hands from Cotto in the eighth appeared to hurt Judah badly, and the champion scored the first knockdown of the bout a round later when his opponent turned away following a flurry of punches and dropped to his knees in the corner. A powerful combination sent Judah down again in the 11th and although he rose to his feet, Mercante halted the bout as Cotto unleashed another barrage.
In addition to the official knockdowns, Judah crashed to the canvas twice-in rounds one and three-as a result of low blows, the second prompting Mercante to deduct a point from the Puerto Rican.
New Yorker Judah argued that the illegal blows played a role in his defeat. "He hit me hard twice and the referee didn't do anything about it," he said. "I thought they were intentional. Those low blows took a lot out of me. I want a rematch."
Cotto won the WBA championship last December. He was previously the WBO junior welterweight title holder, winning the belt in September 2004 and defending it six times. Judah has lost three of his last four bouts including a surprise defeat to Carlos Baldomir in January 2006 when he was defending his undisputed crown.
He was beaten again three months later by Floyd Mayweather Jr and banned from boxing for twelve months for sparking a brawl between the corners after he hit his opponent below the belt and in the back of the head.