Puerto Rican boxer Miguel Cotto became the first-ever Puerto Rican to win four boxing titles in four different weight divisions as he defeated defending World Boxing Council (WBC) middleweight champion Sergio Martinez held at the Madison Square Garden in New York.

Argentine Martinez took a beating at the first round when he was knocked down three times with numerous punching combinations and a deadly left hook by 33-year-old Cotto.

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Speaking through an interpreter after the fight, Martinez says "I got hit and I never recovered after that. I tried my best. He caught me cold, he caught me hard at the beginning and I didn't recover from it."

Martinez looked like he was still able to fight despite taking another powerful hit from Cotto in the ninth round. But his corner thought otherwise and surrendered when the bell rang for the 10^th round.

"This is the biggest achievement I ever had in my career," said Cotto, who now stands with 39 wins against 4 losses.

Cotto's trainer, Freddie Roach, who is also the trainer of boxing great Manny Pacquiao, says "I'm really proud of him. We had a great game plan and he followed it to a tee.  He had him moving into the hook all night long. Miguel is a better boxer than Martinez."

39-year-old Martinez, whose record dropped to 51 wins, 3 losses and 2 draws, did not attend the post-fight interviews. His promoter, Lou DiBella, told reporters that "Sergio had no excuses. After the first round, he felt dizzy throughout the fight but he wanted to continue. But obviously he was taking a terrible beating."

Cotto has held the junior welterweight, welterweight and super welterweight titles before moving up to the middleweight division, weighing in at 160 pounds for the first time in his boxing career.

Tagssergio martinez, Boxing, freddie roach, manny pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, WBC