In a spectacular fight, Miguel Cotto stopped Carlos Quintana at the end of the 5th round.
It was a closely fought back and forth fight, but the power of Cotto proved to remain at Welterweight. The first two rounds was a back and forth of power vs. boxer as Quintana stood and punched with Cotto in between sticking and moving. The oddest nuance in the fight was the way Quintana seemed to bend forward, lending his face to the range and power of the deadly Cotto left hook.
After round three, after it was obvious that Quintana's training did not prepare him to get out of the way of the hook, Cotto began to attack with the right hand. He landed mercilessly, and Quintana seemed to be able to withstand the fire. In some ways, it reminded me of the Hatton title fight. But the proof was soon to be revealed.
After a close round four, which saw Cotto land more definitively, round five started with an aggressive attack from Cotto. Somewhere in the middle of the round, Cotto switched to southpaw and proceeded to punish Quintana. At that point, it seemed that Carlos was out of answers. A left hook to the liver put Quintana on hid knees, writhing in pain (it looked like he hit him on the back, but it really doesn't matter). He beat the count only to go down again, then made it to the end of the round. Quintana retired on his stool, with his corner begging him for one more round...
I stand corrected, and now respect Cotto as the man to beat at Welt (along with Margarito, out of longevity). I would pay top dollar to see Cotto v. Cintron, even though I am sure Cintron would crumble.
LET'S HEAR IT!
