Jennings no match for ruthless Cotto

Miguel Cotto took just five rounds to dispose of Michael Jennings and claim the vacant WBO Welterweight title last night.

Jennings simply couldn’t cope with the power of the Puerto Rican, and having been down twice in the fourth the referee had no choice but to stop it after a barrage of blows in the fifth sent Jennings down again.

It was a brave performance from the Brit, but after entering the ring to a deafening chorus of boos from the thousands of Puerto Rican’s in attendance, I felt intimidated just watching it.

And this being his first fight outside of the UK, you could only see it going one way.

As for Cotto, he will be relieved to make up for his loss to Antonio Margarito last year and a possible rematch with WBA champ, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley could now be on the cards.

The night also saw Kelly Pavlik successfully defend his WBC and WBA Middleweight titles against Marco Antonio Rubio, after the Mexican’s corner threw in the towel after nine rounds.

Preview: Jennings vs Cotto

British Welterweight Michael Jennings will have need to have the fight of his life come Saturday as he meets Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden for the vacant WBO title.

The Puerto Rican has a formiddable record, with the scalps of Shane Mosley, Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi in his 32 wins, 25 of them coming by knockout.

Bookies have Jennings as a 10/1 shot coming into the fight, but with a record of 34 – 1 – 0 Cotto should not take him lightly.

However, even the Chorey fighter’s own trainer, Brian Hughes, has said Saturday night will be as tough as “climbing Mount Everest blindfolded”.

But as the biggest fight of his career, Jennings doesn’t need any more motivation to pull off an upset in what could be a chance to propel him up the world rankings.

Prediction: Cotto win by KO

The fight was due to be shown live on Setanta, but after a dispute over the rights this has been thrown into doubt, keep checking back to see if the issue gets resolved!

Update: Pleased to announce the fight will now be shown on Setanta Sports 2 along with the Pavlick vs Rubio fight, coverage starts at 2am so set your alarms!