Cotto-Margarito & Foreman-Chavez Jr. doubleheader in June 2011 – News

By Boxing News - 11/23/2010 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is looking at matching four of his stable fighters against each other in a big in house fight next year in June, according to badlefthook.com. Arum is looking at matching WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto vs. Antonio Margarito in a rematch, and his much hyped fighter Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. former WBA junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman in a fight that possibly would take place in New York.

Arum may have to change his plans for this fight if Margarito is unable to get licensing to fight in New York. Right now, he’s only able to fight in Texas. However, a card with Cotto-Margarito and Chavez-Foreman would still do well in Texas, but it might not be worthy of putting in a huge stadium like the Cowboys Stadium.

Neither Cotto or Margarito seem to be the same fighters they once were after their brutal war in 2008. Cotto has won three out of four fights since then, but he was matched softly in his win against Michael Jennings and he looked on the verge of being beaten in his win over Joshua Clottey last year. Cotto recently defeated Foreman by a 9th round stoppage in June of this year, but Cotto had a big handicap given that Foreman hurt his previously injured right knee in the 7th round and was hobbling on one leg until he was taken out by some big shots from Cotto in the 9th.

Foreman has since had his knee operated on to have cartilage and ligaments repaired. Cotto didn’t look great when Foreman was throwing power shots and the fight was pretty much even at the time the injury occurred. As for Margarito, he’s looked awful in losses to Shane Mosley, his win over fringe junior middleweight contender Roberto Garcia and his loss to Manny Pacquiao. Margarito doesn’t seem to be the same fighter he once was, and his power seems to have strangely disappeared for some reason. Still, even without power, Margarito would be a tough fight for Cotto given how vulnerable he’s looked in the later rounds against Clottey and Pacquiao.

If Foreman’s leg has healed up, he should be able to the young Chavez Jr. without too many problems. Chavez Jr. has been matched soft his entire career, and still looks more like a 2nd tier middleweight than an actual top contender in my view. He recently beat Top Rank fighter John Duddy, but that doesn’t say all that much, because Duddy is very average and struggles against B level fighters. I have a hard time believing that Chavez will go along with the idea of him facing Foreman, because he’s likely to lose and once Chavez is no longer unbeaten, his chances for a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao or some other big star will go down the drain. Foreman may not be all that great, but I think he’s more than good enough to beat Chavez.



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