Miguel Cotto, of Puerto Rico, right, lands a right hook on Ricardo Mayorga, of Nicaragua, during the first round of their WBA Super World light middleweight title boxing match, Saturday, March 12, 2011, at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Miguel Cotto, of Puerto Rico, right, lands a right hook on Ricardo Mayorga, of Nicaragua, during the first round of their WBA Super World light middleweight title boxing match, Saturday, March 12, 2011, at The MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Eric Jamison, Associated Press
By Associated Press

LAS VEGAS — Miguel Cotto stayed disciplined despite the best efforts of Ricardo Mayorga to turn the fight into a brawl, then stopped Mayorga in the final round Saturday night to retain his piece of the 154-pound title.

Cotto made Mayorga fight on his terms much of the night, frustrating the wild-swinging Nicaraguan and piling up points. Instead of leaving the decision to the judges, though, he knocked Mayorga down in the 12th round before finally forcing him to quit at 53 seconds of the 12th round.

Cotto, continuing to rebound from a beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao, improved his record in title fights to 17-2 in the first defense of the title he won from Yuri Foreman last June.

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