11.06.05 – By Karen Belford: WBO super lightweight champion Miquel Cotto did what he had to do in winning a ninth round TKO over Mohammed Abdulaev on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. For the most part, the fight was anything but pretty for both fighters, with Cotto running around the ring, trying to avoid the fierce inside fighting from Abdullaev, who appeared to still have Cotto’s number early on in the bout.. However, that all changed in the 6th round, when Cotto landed a hard right to Abdullaev’s right eye that put a huge welt over his eye, which later on caused Abdullaev (15-2) to quit in the 9th round of the fight, after complaining he could no longer see out of his right eye. At the time, Cotto was ahead on all three scorecards, 78-74, 79-73 and 79-73. The win for Cotto avenged his loss to Abdullaev in the 2000 Olympics.
Nevertheless, for all the hype about Cotto, he didn’t look like a world beater out there, especially with his retreating boxing style. I don’t know, but for me, Cotto looked more like a pretender, than the next great light, especially the way he ws being handled by Abdullaev prior to his injury to his eye. Honestly, after having witnessed the multi-talented Tszyu and Hatton go at recently, Cotto looks like a child compared to either one of them. He’s just not at their level, in my opinion and I don’t see how he could ever progress to their level, but we’ll see, won’t we? There’s talk of Cotto meeting up with Hatton, possibly early next year. That being said, I wouldn’t blame him if he decides not to take a bout with Hatton, since at this point in time, Hatton’s aggressive, forward attack style offense, would likely smother Cotto and give him fits.