BOXING:Miguel Cotto retained his WBA welterweight championship with an 11th-round stoppage of Zab Judah in front of a capacity crowd of 20,000 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The 26-year-old unbeaten Puerto Rican finished off his American opponent at 49 seconds of the round, when the referee stepped in to stop the contest shortly after Cotto had knocked down Judah for the second time in the bout.

Judah, a former undisputed champion, started brightly by stunning Cotto with a left hand in the first round, but the defending champion gradually wore down the challenger with a bruising attack to head and body.

"I expected a tough fight and that's exactly what I got," Cotto said. "He sure did land some great punches."