In front of over 10,000 fans at New York's Madison Square Garden, Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto made his Manhattan debut with an impressive and aggressive victory over his Olympic conqueror Muhammad Abdullaev.

Both Cotto and Abdullaev used a high guard and displayed impressive skills, but the older Uzbekistan fighter didn't quite have the movement to catch Cotto with punches. Cotto, on the other hand, fired off four and five punch combinations, and was rarely there to be countered. The fight was close going into the 4th round, where Abdullaev landed a short right hand inside that stunned Cotto, but this was the Puerto Rican's night, and he backed Abdullaev up with hard combinations which didn't always connect but had a cumulative effect. By the 9th round, Abdullaev, his right eye completely closed, walked back to his corner and quit.

For Cotto, 24-0 (20), this has to be the most rewarding victory of his young pro career. His ascent up the junior welterweight ladder has been consistent and against solid competition, and the Puerto Rican fans in New York, perhaps sensing he's the next "Tito", cheered him fanatically. Abdullaev, 15-2 (12), failed to capitalize on the biggest oppurtunity of his pro career and will no doubt fade into oblivion. Once thought to have a promising career, the Olympic gold-medalist never got back on track after his loss to Emannuel Clottey, and he was a step behind and didn't look as fresh as the younger, more aggressive Cotto.

On the undercard, Miami-based Cuban Joel Casamayor, 31-3-1 (19), fought to a draw with Krygyzstan's Almazbek Raiymkulov, 20-0-1 (12). Casamayor looked a step slower than his former self, but boxed well and countered Raiymkulov nicely. He dropped him in the first round, but Raiymkulov recovered and put pressure on Casamayor for most of the fight. Though he was the aggressor, Raiymkulov had trouble staying on his feet during the fight, slipping three times and getting knocked down in the opening round. He also has to learn to keep his chin tucked; and although he looked strong it seems fair to say that he doesn't have Kostya Tsyzu's one-punch knockout power.

The fight was tough to score as the normally slow-starting Casamayor started applying pressure in the later rounds. Raiymkulov hurt and wobbled Casamayor with a right hand to the head in the 10th, but the crafty veteran held on and survived the round.

The official scores were 116-111 for Raiymkulov, 115-112 for Casamayor, and 114-114. I scored it 116-112 for Casamayor.