By Edward Chaykovsky

Lou DiBella, who promotes former champion Sergio Martinez (51-3-2, 28KOs), felt his boxer's corner did the right thing when they stopped the fight with Miguel Cotto prior to the tenth round, at New York's Madison Square Garden. Cotto (39-4, 32KOs) picked up the WBC middleweight title with the win.

Martinez was hurt bad in the first round and was put down three times. He was never the same afterwards. Following the match, Martinez said he never fully recovered from the big left hand that Cotto landed in the first round.

"He said that the first punch that knocked him down, he never recovered from the punch. He had no excuses. Not a knee, not a bad hand. Nothing other than he got caught and didn't recover. He would have kept going but the corner stopped it and did the right thing. At that point [after the ninth round] it was just bravery keeping him up," DiBella said. "Miguel beat him from pillar to post. Miguel Cotto is a great champion."