Miguel Cotto stops Sergio Martinez

Miguel Cotto, in a total tour de force, won the middleweight championship of the world and made boxing history by stopping Sergio Martinez in the 10th round Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Cotto scored four knockdowns -- three in the very first round -- in a stunningly 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, which was there mostly for Cotto on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York, erupted.

Tom Sells Freesportspicksdaily.com writes "That knee is shot. Couldn't plant at all. Watching him in 24/7 I thought he looked a little softer and he was not getting under those ropes during slip drills. Couldn't bend. Sad. He took a beating. "

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

Cotto-Martinez punch stats
Cotto Martinez
Landed 212 100
Thrown 395 322
Pct 54% 31%
-- Due to CompuBox

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