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| Date | June 13, 2009 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Title(s) on the line | WBO welterweight title | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Tale of the tape | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cotto wins via 12-round split decision (116–111, 115–112, 113–114) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Miguel Cotto vs. Joshua Clottey , billed as Knockout Power, was a professional boxing match contested on June 13, 2009, for the WBO welterweight title. [1]
In early March 2009, it was announced that WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, who had won the vacant title after defeating Michael Jennings the previous month, would make his first title defense against IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey after Cotto's promotional firm, Top Rank, passed on Cotto's countryman Kermit Cintrón and then WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto. [2] The fight was originally planned to be a unification bout with both Cotto and Clottey's respective titles on the line. However, though Clottey completed the necessary paperwork to meet the IBF's deadline to approve the unification, Cotto was late in filing his, which caused the IBF to instead insist that Clottey next face their highest available contender Isaac Hlatshwayo or be stripped of their title. [3] Though Clottey, who had announced his intentions to go through with the more lucrative Cotto fight, wrote a letter to the IBF asking the organization to reconsider its decision, the IBF refused and stripped Clottey of the title roughly a week later. [4]
Cotto got off to a good start in the first round when he scored with a short right hook that sent Clottey down to the canvas, giving Cotto a big 10–8 round, which would be key in him ultimately winning the fight. The fight would remain close for the next few rounds with Cotto building about a lead on all three scorecards after four rounds, however, in the closing seconds, an accident clash of heads led to Cotto receiving a deep gash above his left eye, which would bleed throughout the rest of the fight and hamper Cotto, though the ringside physician would clear him to continue. Clottey would also suffer an injury the following round, injuring his leg when a botched Cotto clinch spun Clottey around and sent him to the canvas with a leg injury, forcing the referee to halt the action to give Clottey, who decided to continue with the fight, time to recover.
In what was an extremely close fight, Cotto earned the victory via a narrow split decision, being named the winner on two of the official scorecards, 116–111 and 115–112, while Clottey took five of the last six rounds and was named the victor on the third scorecard 114–113.
Angered with the decision, Cottey said afterwards "I threw the hardest punches. People said I'd lose the decision if it went to a decision, and it did. They robbed me." [5]
Confirmed bouts: [6]
| Weight Class | Weight | vs. | Method | Round | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welterweight | 147 lbs. | Miguel Cotto | def. | Joshua Clottey | SD | 12 | note 1 |
| Light Flyweight | 108 lbs. | Iván Calderón | vs. | Rodel Mayol | TD | 6/12 | note 2 |
| Super Featherweight | 130 lbs. | Rafael Guzmán | def. | Juan Carlos Martínez | SD | 6 | |
| Featherweight | 126 lbs. | Jorge Diaz | def. | Guadalupe De Leon | UD | 6 | |
| Super Bantamweight | 122 lbs. | Jayson Vélez | def. | Jesus Bayron | TKO | 3/6 | |
| Middleweight | 160 lbs. | Glen Tapia | def. | David Lopez | UD | 4 | |
| Super Middleweight | 168 lbs. | Matt Korobov | def. | Loren Myers | UD | 4 | |
| Super Lightweight | 140 lbs. | Alberto Cruz | def. | Rudy Valdez | RTD | 2/4 |
^Note 1 For WBO Welterweight Title
^Note 2 For Vacant WBO Light Flyweight Title
| Country | Broadcaster |
|---|---|
 Ireland &  United Kingdom | Setanta Sports |
 United States | HBO |