MANILA, Philippines – Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto snapped a two-match losing streak after defeating Delvin Rodriguez via technical knockout in the third round of their junior-middleweight bout in Orlando, Florida Saturday (Sunday in Manila).
Cotto was coming off back-to-back losses to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Austin Trout last year, but has been re-energized after taking some time off the sport and then hiring celebrated trainer Freddie Roach.
“All of the work that we put in over the last month really showed tonight,” Cotto said, as quoted by the Associated Press. “I’m very happy to have Freddie in my corner. We were able to get back to basics.”
Against Rodriguez, Cotto utilized ferocious body punching, which had been his bread-and-butter early in his career. He landed a left hook to the head of Rodriguez towards the end of the second round, clearly wobbling his opponent.
Cotto ended the bout just 18 seconds in the third round when he fired off a flurry of head shots that sent Rodriguez crashing to the canvas.
It was Cotto’s first victory since December 2011, when he stopped rival Antonio Margarito at the Madison Square Garden in another junior-middleweight bout.
Cotto’s record improved to 38 wins with four losses. It was his 31st knockout victory.
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
