Brian Minto stops before 10th

Associated Press

OLDENBURG, Germany

Marco Huck retained his WBO cruiserweight title on Saturday night when he forced challenger Brian Minto to quit before the 10th round.

Minto’s corner called for an end to the fight after the Butler, Pa., native had gone down in the previous round under a barrage of blows.

Minto was fighting his first cruiserweight bout after a career at heavyweight, and went down in the third and the fifth rounds, too.

Huck (29-1, 22 KOs) dominated the fight against the 35-year-old Minto, who absorbed a lot of punishment from the hard-hitting German. Huck has won 10 straight since losing the IBF title to Steve Cunningham on Dec. 29, 2007.

Minto (34-4) has lost two straight, including a fourth-round stoppage against Chris Arreola last December.

Alvarez-Cotto

LAS VEGAS

Rising welterweight Saul Alvarez stopped Jose Miguel Cotto with a rapid flurry of head shots late in the ninth round to remain unbeaten.

Featherweight Daniel Ponce De Leon also earned a unanimous decision over Cornelius Lock on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s welterweight bout with Sugar Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand.

Alvarez (32-0-1, 24 KOs), a redheaded teenager from Guadalajara, Mexico, added to his growing reputation in his Las Vegas debut, rallying from a rough first round to outwork Cotto (31-2-1).

“It was just a matter of time,” Alvarez said. “The first round was a little scary, but I gained my confidence as the rounds went on.”

Cotto, the older brother of former champion welterweight Miguel Cotto, had Alvarez stunned on the ropes in the opening minutes. Alvarez shook it off and even sent Cotto stumbling to the canvas in the second round in a questionable knockdown.