Trout Beats Cotto to Keep W.B.A. Title

Ray Stubblebine/Reuters

Austin Trout's southpaw style gave Miguel Cotto, left, trouble throughout the fight.

By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI
 


Several days before attempting to defend his World Boxing Association super welterweight title against Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden, Austin Trout declared “I’m the present and future of the sport.”
  Trout, 27, backed up those words Saturday night by refusing to let the 32-year-old Cotto, a four-time champion, catch up with him.

Trout (26-0 with 14 knockouts) soundly beat Cotto (37-4, 30 knockouts) in a 12-round unanimous decision before 13,096 spectators, many of them cheering and waving Puerto Rican flags in support of Cotto — a native of Caguas, P.R. — and loudly booing Trout.
 
Trout’s southpaw style gave Cotto trouble throughout, as Cotto had a tough time attempting to square up the champion and attack him with any consistency.


Though quiet outside the ring, Cotto has spoken loudly with his fists since turning pro in 2001. Along the way, Cotto has earned millions on the strength of his reputation for taking on the toughest fighters of his generation, and Trout was no exception.

In recent years, Cotto has been doing battle with a steady stream of marquee opponents.........




A version of this article appeared in print on December 2, 2012, on page SP10 of the New York edition with the headline: Shaken in First, Cotto Is Beaten After 12th.


SOURCE:
Trout Beats Cotto to Keep W.B.A. Title - NYTimes.com