Cotto claims Middleweight crown, Butler beats Hall, Breahmer retains and Breakhus looks sensational

Some weekends are busy without really being busy. They aren't weekends with legions of fights but yet they are weekends with enough notable action to look back and go "that was an interesting day or two in world boxing". 

We've had one such weekend this week with Saturday boasting more than the typical weekend's worth of fights with a trio of male world title bouts, a female world title bout and a slew of other intriguing contests.

We'll start with the biggest fight of the weekend which took place in the legendary Madison Square garden and featured a boxer who could very well describe the place as a second home, in fact there is every chance the venue will begin charging him rent if he keeps returning. That man is Puerto Rican super star Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32) who put on one of his most sensational performances to date to claim the WBC and Lineal Middleweight title with an awe inspiring victory over Argentina's Sergio Gabriel Martinez (51-3-2, 28). Cotto started like a man possessed and dropped Martinez 3 times in the opening round. Unfortunately whilst it was the perfect start for Cotto it was a nightmare start for some who realised immediately that this was just a shell of Martinez. The Argentinian showed great heart to not just get back up but also fight on until being retired in his corner at the start of round 10.

The win for Cotto reaffirms his position as the king of MSG and one of the truly elite fighters of his generation. It's a win that gives him a lot of options as to who he will be fighting next. Sadly however the result likely sends Martinez into retirement on what can be described as a humiliating contest for the Argentinian who never got the chance to really show his skills. He was admittedly 39 and physically a broken man but he'll have hated going out like this. This result also moves us all a step further from Gennady Golovkin getting a chance to prove he's the Middleweight on the planet as we cannot see any possible way in which Cotto and Golovkin get in the ring together.

On the same card as Cotto's victory we had a little bit of everything. In the first bout of the main broadcast fans saw a KO of the year contender as Andy Lee (33-2, 23) landed saved his career with a perfect right hand that knocked the promising John Jackson (18-2, 15) out cold. Jackson had dropped Lee earlier in the bout and seemed to be going for the kill before being sent to the canvas from a single shot that instantly ended the bout. John Jackson, the son of famed puncher Julian Jackson, will have been feeling exactly the same as Herol "Bomber" Graham was when Graham fought John's father and was seemingly on the way to winning a fight before being caught by one of the greatest KO punches of all time.

Another of the bouts on the same card saw exciting Argentinian Javier Francisco Maciel (29-3, 20) score an excellent victory over Puerto Rican puncher Jorge Melendez (28-4-1, 26). Maciel had only taken the bout on a few weeks notice but took his opportunity and really impressed fans who hadn't seen him before. Although, from the reports available, he was paid very little there are hopes that he will be invited back to the US for a more notable bout. Interesting a bout between Maciel and Lee would be something we'd love to see if Top Rank want to put that one one.

The same card also saw Marvin Sonsona avenge his sole career defeat as he out pointed Wilfredo Vazquez Jr in a bit of a stinker.

The most relevant world title fight for many Asian fighters took place in the UK as the unbeaten Paul Butler (16-0, 8) narrowly over-came Stuart Hall (16-3-2, 7) and claimed the IBF Bantamweight title in a very close bout that one judge, some how, saw as a dominant victory for Butler. Although Butler looked very classy at times he was unable to hurt Hall who came on very strong in the second half of the fight and in all honesty it could have gone either way. 

Although their was talk of a rematch between Hall and Butler it does seem likely that Butler will be forced to fight IBF mandatory challenger Randy Cabellero next. Cabellero, who travelled to Japan and beat Kohei Oba in an IBF eliminator, has been left waiting longer than expected and will be rearing to go at Butler who is skilled but is more of a natural Super Flyweight than Bantamweight. Despite what British TV suggest Butler would not be eligible to immediately move down and fight for the IBF Super Flyweight title with a bout for that belt now set for month at the amazing Protopia hotel in Kobe between Teiru Kinoshita and Zolani Tete.

On the same British card we've got to admit we were very impressed by Bradley Saunders (10-0, 8) who looked sensational in an 81 second blow out of the usually durable Ville Piispanen (18-5-3, 6). This victory saw Saunders winning the WBO Inter-continental Light Welterweight title and at 28 years old we'd expect him to be put on a relative fast track for a British fighter.

The other world title action was in Germany where we had both a male world title fight and a female world title bout.

The male bout saw the talented but controversial heavyweight Juergen Braehmer (44-2, 32) retain his WBA Light Heavyweight title with a decision victory over Argentina's Roberto Feliciano Bolonti (35-3, 24). Braehmer, although not a spectacular fighter, is experienced skilled, and the sort of fighter who will never be an easy opponent for anyone at Light Heavyweight. Sadly he's also not a big traveller meaning that he's almost certainly not going to get in amongst the divisional elite, such as Sergey Kovalev, Bernard Hopkins or Adonis Stevenson. Instead the WBA title is likely to remain in Germany until someone surprises Braehmer.

Whilst Breahmer will never be the best in his division it's almost ludicrous to deny that Cecilia Braekhus (25-0, 7) is the best female Welterweight on the planet. She again showed her class as she defended her WBA, WBC and WBO female titles in impressive fashion clearly defeating the out-classed Jessica Balogun (24-4-, 12) in a masterful performance. At 32 years old there is little out there for Braekhus though there is a mooted super-fight with Christina Hammer, that's almost the only bout that anyone wants to see her in, though contests with Delfine Persoon or Erica Anabella Farias might do if a contest with Hammer can't be organised.

(Image courtesy of Top Rank)

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