LAS VEGAS: Miguel Cotto successfully defended his 70-kg title Saturday night, dominating Ricardo Mayorga throughout their bout before stopping him in the final round. Cotto fought with discipline for 11 rounds and was ahead by five points on all three ringside scorecards entering the final round. He then unleashed a vicious left hook that sent the wild-swinging Nicaraguan to the canvas. Although Mayorga got up, he told referee Robert Byrd when the fight resumed that he couldn't go on. “It was a really good fight with an amazing finish,” Cotto said. Cotto, who is trying to resurrect his career after a defeat to Manny Pacquiao in November 2009, improved his record in title fights to 17-2. It was his first defense of the title he won from Yuri Foreman last June. Martinez stops Dzinziruk Sergio Martinez of Argentina stopped Sergiy Dzinziruk in the eighth round of a middleweight bout Saturday night in Connecticut after knocking the Ukrainian down three times. After three uneventful rounds to begin the fight, Dzinziruk briefly went down on one knee at the start of Round 4 from a tap on his head. Dzinziruk said he slipped, but the referee ruled that he was hit by a punch and called it a knockdown. Dzinziruk was knocked down again by a left hand just seconds before the bell rang to begin the fifth round. The bout was halted at 1:43 of the eighth after Martinez sent Dzinziruk down for the third time.
