Miguel Cotto withstood constant early pressure from Yoshihiro Kamegai and picked up a pace as the fight wore on to take a unanimous decision for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title at the sold-out StubHub Center in Carson, California, on Saturday night. "It was a tough fight, but we did what we came here to do," Cotto said. "We have another champion for Puerto Rico." Cotto (41-5, 33 knockouts) won the sixth world title of his career, receiving winning scores of 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110 from the judges. Cotto was the more active fighter, throwing multiple combinations.
However, Kamegai kept coming forward, sprinting to Cotto to take even more punishment. "I've never seen a guy like that," trainer Freddie Roach said. "He really doesn't know what's good for him, I think. He's the toughest guy I ever saw in my life. Miguel's a good puncher, believe me." Prior to the fight, the 36-year-old Cotto said this would be his final year. In the post-fight interview with HBO, Cotto said he wants to fight one more time in December. Asked who he wanted to fight next, Cotto deferred to Roach, who said he would like for Cotto to fight the winner of the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin fight next month. The one request Cotto did have was to have his final fight be at Madison Square Garden in New York, the Rhode Island fighter's largest fanbase. As for the opponent, Cotto wouldn't get into too many specifics, but made it clear that he didn't want his final fight to be an easy one.
