 Cotto (left) piles into Urkal in Puerto Rico |
Miguel Cotto retained his WBA welterweight title on Saturday when Oktay Urkal was retired during the 11th round of their clash in San Juan. The Puerto Rican was leading on all the judges' scorecards when the German's corner threw in the towel after he was deducted a point for head-butting.
The win in his home country saw the champion improve his record to 29-0.
It was Cotto's first defence of the title he won in December by beating compatriot Carlos Quintana.
Rafael Marquez, 31, captured the WBC super bantamweight title in Carson, California, when holder Israel Vazquez quit on his stool before the start of the eighth round. Marquez, the IBF bantamweight champion, took control of the fight early on but a short left from Vazquez dropped him to the canvas in the third.
But Marquez hit back to stun Vazquez with two successive blows that staggered the champion.
Vazquez, 29, battled on for two more rounds but his trainer pulled him out due to breathing difficulties from a broken nose.
Australian Vic Darchinyan stopped former world champion Victor Burgos in the 12th round to retain his IBF flyweight title in Carson. Burgos took a storm of punishing blows until referee Jon Schorle called a halt when the Mexican staggered again one minute, 27 seconds into the 12th round.
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