Miguel Cotto loses to Sadam Ali in farewell fight at Madison Square Garden
- Share via
Reporting from NEW YORK — Sadam Ali ruined the Garden party for Miguel Cotto on Saturday night, sending the Puerto Rican star into retirement with 12-round defeat by decision.
The 37-year-old Cotto simply couldn’t handle the quickness of his younger opponent, who took the WBO junior middleweight belt. Ali, from Brooklyn, did it despite being the less-popular fighter only miles from his borough; Cotto has made Madison Square Garden a second home, but fell to 8-2 in the arena.
Cotto finishes 41-6, and clearly this was not how he planned to leave the ring. But he looked his age far too often in losing by scores of 115-113, 115-113, and 116-112.
Cotto received a thunderous ovation when he entered the ring, and they were chanting his name as he left, proud but defeated.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
