By Rick Reeno

The theme of this fight is repeat or redemption.

Miguel Cotto (23-0-19 KO) looks to avenge the loss he suffered at the hands of Mohamad Abdullaev (15-1-12 KO) in the 2000 Summer Games. Cotto is coming off a fifth-round TKO victory over DeMarcus Corley. The victory saw Cotto overcome adversity as he was badly stunned in the bout by a Corley right hand in the third round. Cotto was out on his feet, but was able to make it out of the round and eventually stop Corley two rounds later.

Abdullaev wants to prove in the fight that he is still the hot prospect that caught the eyes of boxing writers in 2003. Abdullaev was a strong undefeated warrior until he was stopped by Emmanuel Clottey on June 3, 2003 after he was knocked down, misunderstood the count of ref and got up after the count of ten.

The supporting bout should be another entertaining matchup. Undefeated rising young star Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov (20-0, 12 KO's) takes a serious step up in class when he takes on former lightweight champion Joel Casamayor (31-3, 19 KO's) in a 10-round lightweight bout.

****Round by Round Coverage has begun.****

The first bout of the evening is Joel Casamayor vs. Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov. Casamayor weighs 150 pounds tonight, Kid Diamond weighs 146 pounds.

Casamayor and Kid Diamond are both in the ring, both fighters are about to be announced.

Casamayor is a 7-5 favorite to win the fight.

Round 1 - They come out slow, Diamond taking the lead, Joel pacing around. Neither fight doing much, only thorwing a jab here and there. There is a cut over the right eye of Kid Diamond, unsure where he got hurt. Casamayor just rocked Diamond with a huge shot. Diamond grabs on to Casamayor to get his feet back. Diamond pacing around. Casamayor lands a right hand and Diamond goes down. Diamond does not appear hurt as he gets up and the round is over. Casamayor gets a huge 10-8 round.

Round 2 - Joel is letting Diamond lead again. Joel landing the jab. Diamond's cut seems under control right now. Joel with a combo. Huge bodyshot by Diamond, partially blocked by Joel. Left lands for Casamayor. Diamond to the body again. Left lands for Joel, Diamond lands a big right hand, Joel looks stunned and Diamond jumps on him with some big punches. Joel ties him up, the two trade at the bell and the ref breaks them up. 10-9 round for Kid Diamond.

Round 3 - Jab by Joel, Kid Diamond slips while trying to land a hook. Diamond taking charge now and trying to land big shots. Joel with a bodyshot. Combo by Joel, Diamond with a big right and another. Joel blocks the third right hand attempt. Joel is now jabbing. Right by Joel. Casamayor lands straight right and steps away, Joel with a bodyshot. Joel keeping good distance so Diamond is unable to land the big right. Close 10-9 round for Casamayor.

Round 4 - HBO gave the last to Kid Diamond, Diamond now chasing Joel around the ring and trying to jab his way in, to land a power shot. Joel jabbing to the body. Casamayor lands a left, Diamond with a right and Joel lands another big left in return. Joel going to the body. Diamond to the body. Good right hand by Casamayor. Another close 10-9 round for Casamayor.

Round 5 - Diamond is now pressing Joel with jab, bodyshot by Casamayor. Right to the head by Diamond and he follows up with a bodyshot. Diamond rushes in and they almost clash their heads. Diamond jabs, Joel jabs to the body. Right by Diamond, Joel backs him off with a hard jab. Not much done by either guy in this round, but Joel landed the better punches to get it.

Round 6 - HBO gave the last two rounds to Diamond. Right hand by Diamond and Casamayor lands a hard double left. Diamond is now jabbing. Diamond misses a big right, Diamond seems to be loading up too much in this round and Joel is countering well when he misses. Diamond with a left and a right upstairs. Hard right for Diamond. Diamond grabs a 10-9 round.

Round 7 - HBO gave Casamayor the last round. Lederman seems to be favoring the guy coming forward, he feels Joel is running away too much in the fight. Diamond now chasing him and landing straight punches to the body. Hard bodyshot by Diamond. Big right by Diamond and now lands another as Joel clowns around. Looping right lands for Diamond and now Diamond lands another right. Another 10-9 round for Kid Diamond.

Round 8 - They tie up at the start. Joel with a left, Diamond with a right. Diamodn lands a big left. Diamond now chasing him down and throwing big punches. Joel with a combo to the body, Diamond landing big shots upstairs. Diamond is now staying right on top of Casamayor and landing big punches. Joel lands a low blow, gets a warning. They trade big punches and Joel gets the better. Diamond slips while coming in. Action resumes, Diamond misses a big right, Joel spins him around and lands three left hands. Diamond keeps coming. Diamond grabs a 10-9 round in the best round of the fight. 

Round 9 - Just a note that this fight is a 12 round fight, not 10 rounds as HBO had initially advertised. The two men are trading, Diamond landing some big punches and pushing Casamayor back. Big left-right combo by Diamond. Big right by Diamond. Left by Casamayor. Accidental clash of heads as Diamond comes inside. Joel with a left and another. They trade in the middle with Diamond landing a good right. 10-9 round for Diamond.

Round 10 - Diamond jumps on him and tries to land to the body as Joel ties him up and jabs Diamond into the ropes. Joel now taking the lead in the fight, Diamond jabbing away. Joel with a left, Diamond with a right hand. Joel still leading the entire round and putting on the pressure. Diamond with a straight right hand, they trade right hands. Close 10-9 round for Casamayor.

Round 11 - First fight for Diamond going past the 10th round. HBO gave Joel the last round. Big left by Joel, but lands a counter right. Casamayor seems to be taking the lead again putting heavy pressure on Kid Diamond. Bodyshot by Diamond. Right by Diamond. Diamond going to the body. Joel goes upstairs and Diamond land a right. Diamond using a good jab and lands a combo. Joel with a big left. Straight right on the button by Diamond. Diamond with a right at the end. 10-9 round for Diamond.

Round 12 - They come out slow with the jab, they tie up coming inside. Both men combo in the middle of the ring. Diamond is now using his jab and landing right hands. Big left hand by Joel.  Joel with another big left that appeared to stagger Diamond. Diamond staggers Joel with some big rights. Joel lands two big lefts, Diamond's noce bleeding now. Diamond just staggered Joel with a huge right hand, Casamayor is holding on. The round is over. Diamond grabbing a 10-9 round, great fight.

I have Kid Diamond winning the fight by a point, official scores are coming up.

116-111 for Diamond, 115-112 for Casamayor, 114-114 a Draw. The fight is a draw, I had Diamond winning by a point and in my opinion it was a close fight.

The first round knockdown was the deciding factor in the fight.

Miguel Cotto and Mohamad Abdullaev are both in the ring, they are about to announced into the ring.

Round 1 - Abdullaev charges across the ring. Pace is slow, Abdullaev with a very good defense and lands a right upstairs. Another right by Abdullaev. Both men are fighting with very tight defenses, neither man able to land any clean punches. Both men blocking just about everything. Cotto tries to combo at the end, but Abdullaev blocks almost everything.  Close round, not much done, Abdullaev was coming forward and gets the close nod.

Round 2 - Abdullaev to the body. Cotto comes back with a great combo to the body. Cotto going under the good defense of Abdullaev and lands to the body. Cotto showing his strength and rallies off the ropes and moves Abdullaev to the center of the ring. Cotto keeps letting Abdullaev get him into the ropes and counters off the ropes. Right by Cotto, left by Adbullaev, they trade bodyshots and now trade shots upstairs. Good round, and picked up by Cotto.

Round 3 - Cotto going under the defense to the body. Abdullaev lands a big right on Cotto against the ropes. Abdullaev to the body and the head. Cotto lands some big bodyshots. Hard right for Abdullaev again. Abdullaev to the body and Cotto counters to the body. Abdullaev landing some good punches against the ropes. Cotto rallies off the ropes to bring the arena alive the final seconds. Close round to call, I'll swing it to Abdullaev, but Cotto could have stolen the round at the end.

Round 4 - HBO gave Abdullaev the last round. Abdullaev still leading teh fight and Cotto keeps backing into the ropes, allowing Abdullaev to setup punches. Cotto landing a huge rally of punches on Abdullaev. Cotto now landing some big bodyshots. Uppercut by Cotto. Good right cross by Cotto. Round for Cotto.

Round 5 - Cotto landing good shots to the head and body of Abdullaev, then moves away. Abdullaev lands a right nad. Abdullaev jabbing Cotto against the ropes. Left hook by Abdullaev, combo by Cotto. Cotto with some body work. Abdullaev with a left to the body. Cotto lands a good body combo. Round for Cotto.

Round 6 - Cotto is really starting to open up with punches to the head and body. Abdullaev is landing some big punches to the head. Abdullaev to the head, Cotto combos to the body. Cotto moving around, jabbing and Abdullaev just keeps on coming. Abdullaev lands some good punches against the ropes on Cotto. Another round for Cotto.

Round 7 - Both men are fighting on the inside and with good shots. Cotto has been moving around in this fight more then I have ever seen him do in past fights. Right by Abdullaev. Cotto with a combo. Good left by Abdullaev. Abdullaev to the body, Cotto jabs to the head. Four punch combo by Cotto. Cotto combos and lands upstairs. Another combo by Cotto and finishes with an uppercut. Cotto combos at the end of the round. 10-9 round for Cotto.

Round 8 - Cotto jumping around and landing some good shots from a distance. Abdullaev lands a big right. Cotto moves away and comes back with some big bodyshots. Combo by Abdullaev, Cotto lands a left. Abdullave's right eye is swelling shut. Big combo by Cotto pushes Abdullaev back. Abdullaev with a combo against the ropes and hits Cotto with a right on the break. Another round for Cotto.

Round 9 - Cotto landing some big punches upstairs, lands a shot to the eye of Abdullaev. Abdullaev cant see out of his eye and is motioning to the ref to stop the fight. The doctor is checking on Abdullaev's eye and the fight is over. Cotto gets his revenge with a 9th round TKO.