Last night on HBO from Madison Square Garden, Sadam Ali pulled off a major upset with a decision win over Miguel Cotto, winning the WBO junior middleweight title.
Ali (26-1, 14 KO) was the clear pre-fight underdog, a fighter who had fallen short in his only previous world title bout at welterweight in 2016, when he was stopped by Jessie Vargas.
But he got to Cotto (41-6, 33 KO) early and often, and after a strong rally by the Puerto Rican star in the sixth and seventh rounds, took over the fight down the stretch to secure the victory.
Cotto suffered a reported torn biceps in the seventh round, which likely accounts for much of his dropoff in power punching output from that point on. But injuries come with the territory.
At least partially as a result of the injury, but no doubt something to do with time catching up to all great fighters, the 37-year-old Cotto just couldn’t keep pace with Ali, 29, as the fight wore on. Ali and his team clearly came in with a strong game plan, put it to work, and came out with one of the bigger upsets of 2017.