Earlier tonight at the McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto made his official arrival into the city for his March 12th clash against former welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga. The two fighters will be facing off at the MGM Grand with a showdown against Antonio Margarito said to be awaiting the winner this summer.
Cotto was signed by Top Rank coming out of the Olympics and plied his craft under the bright lights of Las Vegas early in his career. Victories over fading former contenders Justin Juuko and John Brown were displays of dominance and Cotto was solid all the way around in stopping former champion Cesar Bazan at the Mandalay Bay in February of 2003.
<--- Slideshow: Miguel Cotto hits Las Vegas for Mayorga clash
Of course, Cotto has also endured his share of heartache in the city as well, with his lone losses on his ledger taking place within a 16-month span of one another inside of the MGM Grand. In July of 2008 Cotto was overwhelmed by a surging Antonio Margarito as he was dropped twice by the Tijuana brawler on his way towards an 11th round TKO loss. In November of 2009 the Puerto Rican fought valiantly early against Manny Pacquiao but couldn’t cope with his speed or fluidity, again being dropped twice and losing via late-round stoppage.
In many ways those two losses are what has haunted Cotto as well as motivated him to keep pushing forward. His victory over Yuri Foreman last summer was an excellent comeback performance and he has made no secrets that before he calls it a day, he would love another crack at both Margarito and Pacquiao.
Prior to hitting Nevada, Cotto had been training out of the Heavyweight Factory Gym in Miami, Florida. A rematch with Margarito, tentatively scheduled for June, would likely take place in either Las Vegas or New York.
