MIGUEL COTTO PULLS TOUGH SPLIT DECISION

NEW YORK - In a battle of blood and guts, Puerto Rican favorite Miguel Cotto overcame 12 rounds of desperation and danger Saturday night before coming away with a split decision victory against Joshua Clottey to retain the welterweight crown.

June 13, 2009 - by Chuck Johnson | Photos by Will Hart

A largely partisan crowd of Cotto supporters filled Madison Square Garden to the rafters and their man refused to disappoint them, although a nasty cut over Cotto's left eye nearly derailed the celebration on the eve of New York's Puerto Rican Day parade.

Cotto, a native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, suffered the cut when he and Clottey inadvertently clashed heads just before the bell to end the third round.

"I felt good during the fight,'' Cotto said. "I didn't lose any kind of view. But toward the end of the fight, I had to box more because the blood started getting in my eye. I could see but (the blood) just made the fight harder."

In the end, the disappointment belonged to Clottey. The Ghana native, who lives in the Bronx, was knocked down in the first round but gave Cotto everything he could handle. After stalking Cotto and finding him for much of the 12 rounds, he felt he had done enough to win. He attempted a quick exit from the ring in disgust after hearing the decision. Judge Tom Miller scored it 114-113 for Clottey, while John McKaie 115-112 and Don Trella 116-111 both favored Cotto.

"I can't believe it,'' Clottey said. "I quit. I'm out of boxing. I'm never fighting again."

Top Rank's Bob Arum, who promotes both fighters, tried to console Clottey by assuring him that his performance was outstanding.

"It was a close fight," Arum said. "I told Clottey that he shouldn't talk like that, that he has to continue boxing."

Cotto's short left managed to knock Clottey off his feet just before the bell to end the first round. Clottey got up quickly, stunned but more angered with himself after being knocked off his feet for the first time in his career.

Just before the end of the third round, an inadvertent head butt opens nasty gash over Cotto's left eye.

That gave Clottey an opening and he came on strong in the fourth, landing left hooks to the body and head.

Clottey continued to do serious damage in the fifth, but was thrown off stride and down to the canvas by a Cotto move that looked more like MMA than boxing. It took Clottey about 20 seconds before he got up and the fight continued, but Clottey said his knee felt the effects of the fall the rest of the fight.

In the sixth, Cotto dominated the action by coming forward with lefts and rights as Clottey backed into a corner, only punching in rapid spurts. With blood streaming down his face, Cotto continued to come forward but Clottey appeared to be the stronger man as the rounds wound down.

It was Cotto's ability to weather the adversity that apparently swayed two of the three judges. He was digging deep and kept coming forward although Clottey displayed faster hands and quicker combinations.