It wasn't pretty, but Miguel Cotto got his seventh consecutive stoppage victory over Italian Gianluca Branco at the Ruben Rodriguez Coliseum in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

Cotto, 26-0 (22), stalked his opponent with his high guard, throwing left hooks to the body and head with calculated patience, until Branco, holding his right shoulder in the eight round, indicated he could not go on. Branco, 36-2-1 (19), offered only token resistance with his back against the ropes for much of the fight, but landed his jab often with his quicker hands, and showed some good counterpunching skills. Still, he was not busy enough and seemed timid of his opponent. At one point, HBO analyst Larry Merchant stated: "Branco has a tattoo of Che Guevara, the revolutionary, on his right arm. He's going to need a revolution to win this fight."

It wasn't Cotto's most exciting performance, but he got the victory in front of his hometown fans and secured a June fight with another Italian - Paul Malignaggi - at Madison Square Garden in New York City.