No surprises tonight as middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and welterweight star Miguel Cotto both rebounded from their first career losses with dominant knockout victories. Cotto scored a fifth round TKO win over Michael Jennings, while Pavlik defeated Marco Antonio Rubio when Rubio’s corner had seen enough after nine rounds. The night was broadcast on a split-location pay-per-view with both fighters headlining cards in New York and Ohio.

Cotto (33-1, 27 KOs)came out very patient against Jennings, allowing the Brit to box with him and choosing to not press the action. Jennings tried to work his jab and control the fight from the outside, while tying up Cotto on the inside. Cotto, however, continued to land solid punches, slowly breaking his opponent down.

In the fourth round, Cotto unleashed a flurry of devastating body shots, dropping Jennings twice. Had the round been 20 seconds longer, it likely would have ended there, but Jennings managed to survive the round.

Cotto continued to press Jennings in the fifth, getting more ane more aggressive with each exchange. Jennings at this point was fighting for survival, but to no avail. Cotto was all over Jennings, dropping him again after a series of great left hands. Jennings got beaten into the corner before finally going to the canvas. He got up at the count of nine, but clearly had no desire to take more punishment and the referee waived the contest off at 2:36 of the fifth round.

Cotto was fighting for the first time since getting knocked out by Antonio Margarito in the 11th round of their title fight in July of 2008. Margarito has since been suspended for one year, having been caught with an illegal substance in his hand wraps prior to his knockout loss against Shane Mosley. This has led to speculation that perhaps Margarito was fighting with loaded hands against Cotto as well. Both fighters are represented by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions, and Arum’s unwaivering support of Margarito and his desire to land him a fight in Mexico while suspended has led Cotto to imply that he will be leaving Top Rank when his contract expires at the end of the year.

Cotto is in line for any of a number of big fights at welterweight, including potential bouts with Andre Berto, a rematch with Shane Mosley, or even a showdown with Manny Pacquiao should he defeat Ricky Hatton in May.

After the Cotto bout, the card switched Pavlik and a raucous crowd in his hometown of Youngstown, OH, where they were anxiously awaiting their hometown hero’s first fight in Ohio since 2006 and only the third time in his career.

Pavlik (35-1, 31) came out swinging early and appeared to be the only one interested in throwing punches. Rubio was all too willing to eat punches, with no real strategy to win the fight. Pavlik was able to pick his spots in the first few rounds, having complete control while putting himself at minimal risk.

By the third and fourth rounds, it was clear that Pavlik was the superior fighter, as Rubio was unwilling to trade with the bigger man. In the middle rounds, Rubio started to let his hands go some, with some success. But it just wasn’t enough to keep Pavlik off of him.

In the eigth round, Pavlik landed a great right hand that hurt Rubio, but he was unable to finish him off. Rubio survived his way through the ninth round, as Pavlik continued to land at will on him.

At the end of the ninth round, Rubio’s corner and the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight.

Pavlik was also making his first return to the ring since suffering his loss, a one-sided decision loss at the hands of Bernard Hopkins. Since that loss was at the light-heavyweight limit, Pavlik still entered this fight as the middleweight champion of the world.

The middleweight showdown that boxing fans really want to see is Pavlik against Germany’s Arthur Abraham, but it appears that that fight just won’t get made. Both fighters and their promoters are equally to blame, both looking for high-pay, low-risk fights rather than the biggest and best fights. More than likely, Pavlik will square off with Ireland’s John Duddy, in a fight that is sure to be a ratings success, while likely offering Pavlik little more than a punching bag in return.

On the undercard bouts in New York, Duddy stayed unbeaten with a solid decision win over Matt Vanda. Duddy improves to 26-0 with 17 knockouts. Scores were 98-91, 97-93 and 98-91.

Also on the undercard in New York, undefeated Olympian super middleweight Matt Korobov (4-0, 4) kept his perfect record intact with a knockout as time expired, junior middleweight Pawel Wolak (23-1, 16) earned a win with a third round KO, and female super featherweight Kina Malpartida (9-3, 2) pulled off the upset with a tenth round TKO over previously undefeated fan favorite Maureen Shea (13-1, 7).

Meanwhile, over in Youngstown, Dallas Vargas (22-4, 16), Brian Camechis (18-2, 8), Andres Taylor (5-0-1, 2), Mark Salser (9-0, 9), Jake Giuriceo (1-0, 1), Willie Nelson (11-0, 7), and Billy Greenawalt (2-4, 1) were all winners.

*****

On a side note, I thought the Top Rank PPV production was solid, but obviously not at the level of HBO or Showtime. More importantly, I think Charlie Steiner calls a fine fight. He’s a pro’s pro and is never less than completely prepared. The pairing of Steiner and Al Bernstein was a good one and I give Top Rank a solid B+ for the broadcast. It would have been an A, but Ray Mancini knocked it back a notch. Nick Charles was good as usual on the Youngstown half of the card, but Mancini just doesn’t speak well enough to get away with having a speaking job. Not to mention the bias that came through from the Youngstown native.

**

The fans at MSG should be ashamed of themselves for booing “God Save the Queen” from start to finish. Clearly it was the Puerto Rican fans (based on their Jonas Brother-esque treatment of the PR anthem singer), but it was disgraceful. I don’t care where you’re from or what you believe, show a little respect.