"X-PLOSIVE!"
COTTO vs. JUDAH

Miguel Cotto vs. Zab Judah
Welterweight Championship
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Distributed by Canadastar Boxing Inc.
To Canadian Commercial Locations
On Closed Circuit-Pay Per View

MIGUEL COTTO

PROFILE AND BIO

- As At April 2007 -

At the age of 26, Miguel Cotto is a six-year pro. The WBA welterweight world champion made his first successful title defense on March 3.

Boxing News reported, “He is among the best body bangers in the sport and displayed his full arsenal.”

After the fight, Miguel said, “ All the big names. I want to fight with them. I feel better, more stronger, with more stamina at 147 pounds.”

Miguel moved up to 147 pounds for the first time in his last fight on December 2 and won the vacant WBA welterweight world title with a very impressive fifth-round TKO win against previously undefeated contender Carlos Quintana .

Dan Rafael of ESPN.com wrote, “ Cotto was simply sensational. He performed like a star, won his second world title...and, at age 26, set himself up for monster future business. There was nothing not to like about the fight... The weight gain seemed to help Cotto, who had a lot of energy and was throwing bombs. He's going to be even better at 147 pounds than he was at 140. We're just so excited about potential big Cotto fights, we can hardly contain it.”

Boxing columnist Graham Houston wrote, “Now we know that Miguel Cotto is a formidable force at welterweight... Every punch from Cotto seemed designed to do damage - even the jabs to body and head were forceful drives - and he switched to southpaw in a very effective way... Cotto was relentless, intelligent and fast in the way he applied pressure... The fact that Cotto won was no surprise to many of us - what was surprising, to me anyway, was that he made it look almost easy.”

After the fight, Miguel said, “As always, I go in to fight my fight and win round by round. In a fight at this level, you expect both fighters to have their moments. He had his and I had mine, but mine were greater. My shots were bigger, and he didn't stand up to it.

“I've always dreamed of being one of the greatest champions from Puerto Rico , like Wilfred Benitez and Felix Trinidad . I am on my way.”

Miguel has already become Puerto Rico 's biggest star currently in the ring. He won the WBO jr. welterweight world title in September, 2004, and made six successful title defenses before vacating the title to move up in weight. He won Puerto Rico 's “Fighter of the Year” award in 2004 and 2005, and has become a strong draw at the gate.

His fight at Madison Square Garden on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade in June, 2006, drew over 14,000. Miguel also headlined at the Garden before the 2005 parade and drew over 10,000 fans. His last three fights in Puerto Rico drew capacity crowds.

He is experienced against very good opposition and has beaten former world champions DeMarcus Corley (TKO5), Randall Bailey (TKO6), Carlos Maussa (TKO8), and Cesar Bazan (TKO11). He has also beaten previously undefeated contenders Carlos Quintana (TKO5), Paulie Malignaggi (W12), Ricardo Torres (KO7), and Kelson Pinto (TKO6), as well as contenders Muhammad Abdulaev (TKO9), Victoriano Sosa (TKO4) and Lovemore Ndou (W12).

Miguel's webpage address is www.miguelcotto.com.

KEY FIGHTS

2007

MARCH 2007 - 1 ST WBA W WORLD TITLE DEFENSE - in his last fight, he TKO'd former three-time world title challenger Oktay Urkal (38-3). Urkal gave a good effort, but Cotto dominated the fight. He constantly pressed forward, landed the harder punches, and used a strong body attack. Miguel was cut over his left eye by a clash of heads in the 5 th round, and Urkal was penalized one point for another head butt in the 7 th round and penlized another point in the 11 th round for the same foul. Urkal's corner stopped the fight at 1:01.

2006

DECEMBER 2006 – WON VACANT WBA W WORLD TITLE - Cotto TKO'd previously undefeated lefthander Carlos Quintana (23-0). Miguel was very impressive; he started fast and rocked Quintana with a right hand midway through the 1 st round and landed the sharper punches in the 2 nd, but Quintana rallied in the 3 rd and 4 th rounds. Miguel stepped up his pace in the 5 th – he rocked Quintana with a left hook midway through the round, and scored a knockdown moments later with a left hook to the body; Quintana got up, but Miguel scored another knockdown with a series of punches, and Quintana, battered and bruised around his eyes and with a bloody mouth, did not continue after the round.

JUNE 2006 - 6 TH WBO JW WORLD TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto won a 12 round unanimous decision against previously undefeated Paulie Malignaggi (21-0). In this exciting fight; Miguel dominated the early rounds – he cut Malignaggi over his left eye in the 1 st round and scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 2 nd. Malignaggi gave a tremendous effort and rallied in the middle rounds to win the 5th, 6th and 9th rounds on all three scorecards, but Miguel finished the fight strongly and gave him a severe beating. Malignaggi had a bad swelling on his right cheek. Both fought hard until the final bell and had the fans on their feet. Malignaggi underwent surgery a week later for a fractured right cheekbone.

MARCH 2006 - 5 TH WBO JW WORLD TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto TKO'd Gianluca Branco (36-1-1). A capacity crowd of around 15,000 started chanting, “Cotto…Cotto…” during the start of the undercard bouts and continued through the main event. Miguel gave a strong performance and dominated the fight. He outworked Branco, worked the body well, and steadily wore him down. Branco was cut on his scalp by a clash of heads in the 5 th round, and was swollen under his right eye and on the right side of his jaw in the 6th. Miguel landed a left hook to Branco's right shoulder in the 8th round, and Branco grabbed his shoulder in pain and turned away from the action. The referee stopped the fight at 0:49.

2005

SEPTEMBER 2005 - 4 TH WBO JW WORLD TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto TKO'd previously undefeated WBO No. 1 ranked contender Ricardo Torres (28-0). Miguel fought aggressively and started fast - he scored a knockdown midway through the 1st round, but Torres came back and staggered Miguel early in the 2nd, then scored a knockdown midway through the round. Miguel got up and Torres attacked furiously, but Miguel weathered the storm and staggered Torres late in the round. Miguel wore down Torres with a relentless body attack, and scored another knockdown in the 4th round, but Torres rallied again and staggered Miguel midway throught the 5th. Miguel recovered and scored a knockdown in the 6th , then scored another knockdown in the 7 th round. Torres got up but was unsteady, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:52.

JUNE 2005 - 3 RD WBO JW WORLD TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto TKO'd Muhammad Abdulaev (15-1). It was the eve of the Puerto Rican Day Parade, and fans waved Puerto Rican flags and chanted Miguel's name. Abdulaev, who had beaten Miguel in his first fight at the 2000 Olympics and went on to win the gold medal, gave a strong effort and relentlessly pressed forward, but Miguel dominated the early rounds. He boxed and moved effectively, consistently outworked him, and won the first five rounds on all three scorecards. Abdulaev stepped up his pace and won the 6th round on one scorecard and the 8 th on all three; Miguel continued to score with sharp combinations, and Abdulaev, with his right eye completely shut, signalled the referee to stop the fight at 0:57 of the 9 th round.

FEBRUARY 2005 - 2 ND WBO JW WORLD TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto TKO'd former WBO jr. welterweight world champion and lefthander DeMarcus Corley (29-3-1). Miguel scored a knockdown with a left hook in the opening minute of the 1 st round, and staggered Corley later in the round, but Corley rallied late in the 2nd. Corley staggered Miguel early in the 3 rd with a right hook to the temple, but Miguel weathered the storm, recovered, and outworked Corley in the 4 th ; Miguel rocked Corley midway through the 5 th , then scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body. Corley got up, but Miguel pressured him, Corley went to one knee, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:45.

2004

DECEMBER 2004 - 1 ST WBO JW WORLD TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto TKO'd former WBO jr. welterweight worlrd champion Randall Bailey (28-4). The fight was co-featured with the Wladimir Klitschko-Danny Williams main event . Bailey started fast and landed two hard right hands in the 1 st round, but Miguel dominated the rest of the fight. He scored one knockdown with a right hand that dropped Bailey to his knees in the 2 nd round, and another with a right hand that dropped Bailey to one knee and cut him over his left eye in the 3rd. Miguel steadily wore down Bailey with hard body punches, and the referee stopped the fight on the advice of the ringside doctor at 1:39 of the 6 th.

SEPTEMBER 2004 - WON VACANT WBO JW WORLD TITLE - Cotto TKO'd previously undefeated Kelson Pinto (20-0). Pinto had beaten Miguel two times as an amateur. Miguel dominated the exciting battle. He staggered Pinto with a left hook in the 1 st round and scored a knockdown with a right hand-left hook conbination in the 2nd , but Pinto kept coming back and there were some fierce exchanges. Miguel staggered him again in the 3rd and 4 th rounds, then scored a knockdown with a left hook in the 5 th ; Miguel scored another knockdown with a series of punches in the 6 th , and Pinto's corner threw in the towel to stop the fight at 2:28.

MAY 2004 - 5 TH WBC INTERNATIONAL SL TITLE DEFENSE - Miguel won a 12 round unanimous decision against former world title challenger Lovemore Ndou (38-6-1). Miguel pressed the action in the early rounds - he outworked Ndou, consistently landed the harder punches, and buckled Ndou's knees in the 6 th ; Ndou gave a tremendous effort, kept fighting hard, and rallied in the late rounds, but Miguel boxed and moved effectively and won by scores of 117-111, 116-112, 115-113.

FEBRUARY 2004 - 4 TH WBC INTERNATIONAL SL TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto TKO'd former two-time world title challenger Victoriano Sosa (37-3-2). Sosa gave a strong effort and rocked Miguel late in the 2nd round, but Miguel scored a devastating TKO. He bloodied Sosa'a lip and staggered him with a left uppercut in the 3 rd round; Miguel scored three knockdowns in the 3 rd - the first with a left uppercut to the chin, the second with a left hook to the head, and the third with a left hook to the body - and the referee stopped the fight without a count at 2:51; after the fight, Miguel said, “Sosa's a good fighter, as he showed against Mayweather and Spadafora. He's the best I've fought. But my team thought he would be a good fight for me, and I won. I'm just trying to get better every time I go into the gym. I'm glad people think that I have.”…

2003 – 3 RD WBC INTERNATIONAL SL TITLE DEFENSE - on 12-6-03 in Bayamon he TKO'd previously undefeated Carlos Maussa (16-0): the fight headlined at Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez and drew an announced crowd of 10,000, and Miguel gave a sensational performance; Maussa is tall, awkward and very determined, and was coming off an impressive TKO win against unbeaten prospect Jeffrey Resto, but Miguel dominated the fight; he scored a knockdown in the 3 rd round and steadily wore down Maussa; Miguel staggered him in the 8 th round, and Maussa's corner stopped the fight at 2:02; after the fight, Miguel said, “The fights are won in the ring, not by talking or at the press conferences. He was tall and had long arms, and that's why it was difficult to attack his body. But little by little, I wore him down.”; Maussa went on to win the WBA super lightweight world title…

2 ND WBC INTERNATIONAL SL TITLE DEFENSE - WBA SL WORLD TITLE ELIMINATOR - on 9-13-03 in Las Vegas he TKO'd former world title challenger Demetrio Ceballos (26-4): Ceballos gave a good effort and pressed forward, but Miguel dominated the fight. He boxed and moved effectively, consistently outworked Ceballos and landed the harder punches, then switched to the lefthanded stance in the 6th round and rocked Ceballos several times. He rocked Ceballos with a series of punches in the 7th and Ceballos's corner stopped the fight at 2:28.

JUNE 2003 - WBC INTERNATIONAL SL TITLE DEFENSE - Cotto knocked out former three-time world title challenger Rocky Martinez (38-8-1). Miguel was very impressive. He cut Martinez over his right eye in the 1st round, then scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 2nd and Martinez was counted out at 2:42…

APRIL 2003 - Cotto knocked out former world title challenger Joel Perez (34-5-2). Miguel was busier and sharper, scored a knockdown with a left hook to the body in the 4th round and Perez was counted out at 1:29.

FEBRUARY 2003 - WON VACANT WBC INTERNATIONAL SL TITLE - Cotto TKO'd former WBC lightweight world champion Cesar Bazan (39-5-1). It was a step up in class for Miguel and his most impressive win. He dominated the fight. Miguel scored a knockdown in the 1st round and bloodied Bazan's nose in the 2nd. Miguel consistently kept a busier pace, landed the sharper punches, and wore him down. Bazan kept fighting back hard, but his right eye gradually swelled shut from repeated left hooks. Miguel rocked him in the 11 th round, and the referee stopped the fight at 0:16.

2002

NOVEMBER 2002 - Cotto TKO'd Ubaldo Hernandez (18-9-2): Hernandez gave a good effort, but Miguel steadily wore him down. He bloodied his nose in the 2nd round, then rocked him a couple of times and cut him under his right eye in the 4th. Miguel hurt Hernandez with a body punch in the 7th round, then scored a knockdown and Hernandez was counted out at 1:31…

SEPTEMBER 2002 - He won a 10-round unanimous decision against former four-time world title challenger John Brown (23-9). It was a step up in class of opposition for Miguel and the first time he went 10 full rounds; Miguel dominated the fight , scoring a knockdown in the 2nd round, and staggering Brown in the 8th .

2001

FEBRUARY 2001 - In his professional debut at age 20, Miguel TKO'd Jason Doucet.