Cotto Dominates Geale to Keep Title
June 7, 2015 (The Sports Network) — Miguel Cotto retained his WBC middleweight title with a fourth-round technical knockout of Australian Daniel Geale Saturday night at Barclays Center.
Fighting for the first time since a win over Sergio Martinez almost exactly one year ago, Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) chipped away at his opponent by striking body shots at Geale (31-4, 16 KOs) in the first three rounds. Nearly 30 seconds into the fourth, Cotto landed a left to the face that sent Geale to the canvas.
Referee Harvey Dock made sure Geale was ready to fight again, but Cotto continued the barrage and pinned his foe against the ropes. Then came a counter right to the face that dropped Geale for the second time. Dock called a final stoppage at the 1:28 mark.
The 34-year-old Cotto, the first and only Puerto Rican to capture championships in four different weight classes, will likely fight Mexican superstar Saul “Canelo” Alvarez later this year. Alvarez dominated James Kirkland in a third-round knockout of a super welterweight fight last month.
Geale suffered an early TKO loss for the second time in his last three bouts. It was last summer when he was beaten by Gennady Golovkin, who happened to be ringside for Saturday’s fight.
[SportsNetwork.com]
