Read more about Other Sports.
Cotto retains title on points
Other Sports, 12:21, June 14, 2009 ,
Miguel Cotto recovered from an early scare to defend his WBO welterweight title with a split points win over Joshua Clottey.
A clash of heads in the third left Cotto with a cut on his left brow but he recovered to win 116-111,115-112,113-114 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Cotto had Clottey down in the first and again in the sixth but the Ghanaian rallied well to dominate rounds seven to nine.
Cotto then fought back in the final three with a series of quick flurries, despite blood pouring from his cut.
His final flourish was just enough to impress the judges and secure a narrow victory which adds to his impressive record of 34 victories with 27 knockouts and just one defeat.
Speaking after the fight Cotto said: "I just tried to keep my plan and forget about the cut.
"I just tried to forget about the blood running into my eye and make my people proud."
Clottey was understandably disappointed as he thought he had done enough to win.
"I fought my heart out," he said.
"I'm chasing the guy. He's running. I'm blocking the punches. So I don't know what I have to do to win the fight."