On Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden in New York, former WBA super light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico will face WBC and The Ring middleweight titleholder Sergio Martinez of Argentina in a title fight. Cotto (38-4-0, 31 KOs) is coming off a TKO win over Delvin Rodriguez last year after losing twice in a row against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in May 2012 and Austin Trout in December of the same year. The win by Cotto over Rodriguez marked his first under Trainer Freddie Roach, who took over from Cotto’s former trainer Pedro Diaz. Roach, who also trains Filipino boxing star Manny Pacquiao, said his plan is for Cotto to attack Rodriguez’s body first, which Cotto did, but the end came earlier than expected. “Anyone who lays on the ropes against Cotto is a dead fighter,” Roach said. “We started with the body first to wear him down. Our plan was to break him down with body shots.”
It is expected that Roach will apply the same plan and strategy against Martinez, who is taller than Cotto. Prior to his fight against Mayweather, Cotto avenged his controversial loss to Antonio Margarito with a TKO win in 2012 to retain his WBA light middleweight title after successfully defending it against Ricardo Mayorga in the same year via TKO. In 2009, Cotto lost to Manny Pacquiao via TKO but he came back with a win against Yuri Foreman to mark the start of his three-fight winning streak that ended in a loss to Mayweather in May 2012. Cotto is looking forward to winning world titles in four different divisions, saying he wants to be remembered as a boxer who tried his best. “To be the first Puerto Rican to win a world title in four divisions would be an achievement,” he said. (Wilfredo) Gomez, (Wilfredo) Benitez, there have been a lot of good fighters from Puerto Rico before me. When I started boxing, Tito Trinidad was our big star. A victory on Saturday night would make me feel happy and proud. I would like to be remembered as a boxer who tried to do his best.” Martinez (51-2-2, 28KOs) is rated No.7 pound for pound best boxer in the world by The Ring and a and a recipient of BWAA “Fighter of the Year” award in 2010. He is the current The Ring and WBC middleweight titleholder.
Martinez has not lost a single fight since his loss to Paul Williams in 2009. His last fight was a UD win against Martin Murray in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Prior to his win over Murray, Martinez survived a last round attack by Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. to retain his The Ring and WBC Diamond Middleweight titles. Martinez will be on his eight-fight winning streak if he beats Cotto on Saturday. Hitting 40 in about eight months, Martinez is bothered by his knee injury and Cotto’s camp seems to have made an issue about it. “I don’t know who brought up the issue about the sheath I am wearing on my knee. Whether it was the commission or Cotto’s team directly I am not sure. The only one who will pay for it though is Miguel Cotto on June 7th,” Martinez said. Lead promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank Promotions is confident the fight will generate substantial revenue from pay-per-view owing to Cotto’s popularity among Puerto Ricans in New York and neighboring states.
