A brave performance from Britain's Michael Jennings was not enough to prevent Miguel Cotto regaining the world welterweight title at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.

Former British champion Jennings, in his first fight outside the UK, was no match for the Puerto Rican, who was in his first contest since losing an 11th-round thriller to the now-disgraced Antonio Margarito last summer.

Referee Benji Estevez called the fight off with 24 seconds left of the fifth round as Jennings rose from the canvas for the third time as Cotto, now 33-1 (27 KOs), took possession of the vacant WBO title, leaving his beaten opponent 34-2 (16 KOs).

"He's a great fighter," Jennings said. "The hardest puncher I have faced.

"He was deceiving. You think you're out of his range but then he strikes. I thought I had distance from his firepower."

After praising Jennings' performance, new champion Cotto was delighted with his night's work as he bounced back from his only professional defeat to Margarito.

"When I came out and saw this crowd tonight it was great," Cotto said.

"It was great to go back into the ring and be able to study my opponent for the first couple of rounds.

"Then I started to go to the body and then to the head and then I started to let my hands go and I just threw my punches."

Jennings had entered the ring first to 'Anarchy in the UK' by the Sex Pistols and a chorus of boos from an 11,120 pro-Cotto crowd, but it would prove the only time he was in front of the Puerto Rican.

The opening round was a cagey affair with Jennings attempting to keep a safe distance as Cotto prowled the centre of the ring, content to get a measure of his opponent.

Jennings threw occasional punches, lone jabs and darting one-twos but the first telling blow belonged to Cotto who caught the Englishman on the chin with a short upper cut midway through the second.

Cotto then launched a barrage late in the round with Jennings on the ropes but the Englishman managed to tie him up inside the last 10 seconds.

There was more aggression from Jennings in the third round as he continued to throw out jabs, Cotto preferring to pounce at opportune moments, content to pick his man off round by round.

Marks had begun to appear on Jennings' face by the start of the fourth and he caught a straight left on the nose at the start of a round that would prove to be the beginning of the end.

Cotto rocked him back into his corner with a left hook and then had Jennings down for the first time with a body shot, again with the left.

The 31-year-old form Chorley, Lancashire, took the count but was quickly on the canvas again, this time in the opposite corner thanks to a sweeping left hook to the body from Cotto.

Jennings managed to survive the round although Cotto thought he had already won the fight and started celebrating until his trainer sent him back to his stool, but he was only a couple of minutes ahead of the game.

The fifth started with a left jab that whipped Jennings' head back although the former British champion was still game and was trying to trade.

There was only one man in the fight though and inside the final minute, Cotto exploded into action once more, sending Jennings onto the ropes with a crunching right to the head followed by an equally fearsome left.

Another straight right to the head was the final blow as Jennings went down on a knee again. He looked across to his trainer Brian Hughes who calmly motioned his fighter to stand up.

Jennings did as instructed but referee Estevez had seen enough and called the fight off.

"Cotto's the complete fighter in every sense of the word," Hughes said. "Cotto really put the ring down on Michael, he's such a great fighter."

Also on the bill, Irish middleweight contender John Duddy survived a torrid final round at the hands of American Matt Vanda to take his unbeaten record to 26-0 (17 KOs) with a unanimous points decision.

Duddy, still making his way back into contention for a world-title shot after a terrible performance a year ago in the same ring when he inched past Walid Smichet, had been cruising through the rounds with a measured display that highlighted his jab and impressive head movement that had been so lacking in previous fights.

But it nearly all came apart for Duddy, though, in the 10th and final round as Vanda finally broke down the Irishman's defence, peppering his head with combinations.

Duddy never looked in desperate trouble though and the onslaught was not enough to sway the fight Vanda's way as the judges delivered the ninth defeat of his career.

Vanda slipped to 39-9 (22 KOs) after two of the judges scored it 99-91, a third scoring it 97-93.