WBA super welterweight champ Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KOs) remained undefeated by doing something no one else had ever done -- beat Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden. Cotto (37-4, 30 KOs) came into the bout a betting favorite to extend his career record of 7-0 at MSG.
Trout, however, never let Cotto seize control of the fight. The Showtime announcers called the fight as if it could have gone either way but it would have been a robbery if Austin was denied the win. The relatively unknown 27-year-old from New Mexico consistently outworked and outlanded Cotto, who - as always - applied pressure throughout and never stopped trying to punish Austin. Trout finished strongly in rounds eleven and twelve and the judges - to their credit - scored the fight that took place in the ring and were not influenced by the pro-Cotto crowd. Scores were 119-019 and 117-111 twice.
Punch Stats: Total Punches: Austin - 238 of 779 (31%); Cotto - 183 of 628 (29%). Jabs: Austin - 46 of 349 (13%); Cotto - 29 of 175 (17%). Power Punches: Austin - 192 of 430 (45%); Cotto - 154 of 453 (34%).
A win for Cotto - an old 32 - would have set up a big money fight with Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez. Now that opportunity may go to Austin -- he certainly earned it.
No comments:
Post a Comment