Puerto Rico's Miguel Cotto retained his World Boxing Council middleweight world title with a crushing victory over Australia's Daniel Geale. Cotto knocked down Geale twice in the fourth round before referee Harvey Dock stopped the bout at 1:28 of the fourth. Cotto dominated from the opening bell in front of a crowd of 12,100 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
Cotto landed a devastating left hook early in the fourth and then finished off the challenger soon after with a series of body shots that sent the Aussie to the canvas for a second time. Geale got up but was obviously unable to continue and Dock called a halt.
The 34-year-old Cotto improved to 40-4 with 33 knockouts and the win now sets up a likely showdown with Mexico's Saul "Canelo" Alvarez possibly later this year.
Geale, 34, fell to 31-4 with 16 knockouts. The former world champion suffered his third defeat in his last five fights.
After Canelo, Cotto's head trainer Freddie Roach believes the only fight left for them will be a unification showdown with WBC/IBO middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin.
"If we do get 'Pretty Boy' [Canelo] next and we defeat him, where else do we have to go?" Roach said. "I think we'd have to fight Golovkin. He's a tough fight, but he was exposed the other night [in the fight with Monroe] a little bit. His trainer said he took shots on purpose to make the fight, but I don't believe that. I never want my fighters to get hit."