Miguel Cotto retained his WBA welterweight title with a unanimous points decision over four-time world champion Shane Mosley.
Brave Mosley no match for champion
Miguel Cotto retained his WBA welterweight title with a unanimous points decision over four-time world champion Shane Mosley.
The Puerto Rican, nine years younger than his opponent, retained his unbeaten record but the fight was in the balance right up until the final bell.
Mosley had just the better of the early exchanges, catching the champion with a clubbing right hand at the end of the second round provoking an immediate response from Cotto.
The fight continued in similar vein, Mosley repeatedly tagging Cotto with the right hand while the 27-year-old came back with a flurry of blows, taking the fifth and sixth rounds with crushing body shots and left hooks to the head.
Jolting right
The seventh was a cracker, with Mosley again scoring first with a jolting right hook and Sugar Shane again came on strong in the ninth, trapping the champion on the ropes in the dying seconds.
Neither fighter gave an inch as Cotto continued to stalk the challenger, giving the impression he was always shading it despite the best efforts of Mosley, whose dangerous right hand was not landing cleanly.
An accidental clash of heads appeared to affect Cotto in the final round, but with neither man prepared to go all-out for the knockout the fight petered out, with Cotto getting the verdict 115-113 (twice) and 116-113.
Young lion
Mosley was magnanimous in defeat, saying: "It was a great fight. Miguel was very strong, not only was he a powerful puncher but he can box.
"He mixed it up and did a hell of a good job. He's a young lion on the way to greatness.
"He caught me with some good shots but I never felt like I was going to go down.
"I got a buzz but never really felt hurt and I definitely hit him with some good body shots but he's so tough."
The champion is now 31-0 with 25 kos while the former lightweight, welterweight, and light-middleweight champion slipped to 44-5 (37ko).
