Weekend Wrap-up in Boxing (November 30 - December 1)

On Saturday night, Austin “No Doubt” Trout entered the ring at Madison Square Garden in New York City as undefeated WBA junior middleweight champion against the Puerto Rican challenger Miguel Cotto. The Garden’s crowd of over 13,000 attendees were overwhelmingly fans of Cotto, who had never lost at that venue in eight previous bouts. Despite Trout being the underdog, even as champion, and a crowd loudly cheering Cotto on, he overcame the odds and pulled out a 12-round unanimous decision win. The match appeared mostly tactical, with both boxers engaging in fairly good exchanges early on and midway through the fight. Trout, however, poured it on in the later rounds, often using his size to muscle his way into Cotto’s body. The results appear to be a classic case of a rising young star retiring a great boxing legend. Cotto, however, has not made his intentions clear as to whether he will be hanging up the gloves for good. Earlier in the U.K., undefeated British heavyweight Tyson Fury won a unanimous 12-round decision over the American challenger, Kevin Johnson, well known for his somewhat excessive slipperiness and continually moving away from his opponent, as he did in a decision loss to world champion Vitali Klitschko in 2009. Johnson had not changed that game plan much during the bout with Fury, resulting in a rather slow-paced match that seemed to displease spectators. Fury is now slated to match up against Vitali Klitschko for the WBC World Heavyweight title. This coming Saturday, Manny Pacquiao will take on Juan Manuel Marquez for a fourth time. In previous bouts, both fighters fought to a draw and Pacquiao earned close majority and split decision wins. Many boxing experts and fans believe Marquez had won all three fights and have stated that this fourth matchup should ultimately settle the matter.

P. Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk
Twitter: @GAR1680