MIAMI, March 4 (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Miguel Cotto retained his World Boxing Association welterweight title in Puerto Rico when challenger Oktay Urkal's corner threw in the towel during the 11th round of their scheduled 12-round fight on Saturday.
Cotto was well ahead on all the judges' scorecards when the German challenger's corner waved off the bout at 1:01 of the 11th after the referee deducted a point from Urkal for head-butting.
The judges' scores were announced at the end of the fourth and eighth rounds and Urkal's corner was aware of how far behind he was. They said later they believed Cotto was throwing illegal punches to the challenger's back without penalty.
Cotto, fighting in front of a partisan home crowd at Roberto Clemente Coliseum, used his heavy body shots to wear down the veteran Urkal, who caused a troublesome cut over the champion's left eye in a clash of heads earlier in the fight.
The champion improved his unblemished record to 29-0, keeping alive an expected June defence against Zab Judah. The 37-year-old Urkal dropped to 38-4.
"The blood helped him to survive," Cotto, 26, said in a televised interview after the bout, referring to the gash over his eye. "The blood bothered me in the fight."
Urkal's trainer, Uli Wegner, said through an interpreter: "He was throwing punches that shouldn't be allowed. Oktay was red and blue in the back."
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