By Edgar Solorzano: On March 12th Puerto Rico’s champ Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KO’s) will face former WBC Junior Middleweight champion Ricardo “El Matador” Mayorga (29-7-1, 23 KO’s) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev.

Nicaragua’s Ricardo Mayorga is coming off a fascinating TKO victory over Michael Walker; a warrior who has lost his last five battles in the ring. On the other side of the bridge, Miguel Cotto is coming off a TKO victory over Yuri Foreman; a fight that had to be stopped due to Foreman’s knee injury.

March 12 will be a night that will soon be written in the history books. Cotto-Mayorga should be an exciting explosive fight for the fight-fans. We have Mayorga; a fighter that always loves to trash-talk and disrespect fighters. He is not afraid to say anything in anyone’s face. Mayorga gets heated easily and explodes like a volcano as quick as a cheetah. While Miguel Cotto is the silent warrior that lets the fist do the talking.

This fight will open many secret doors in the world of Boxing. If Mayorga succeeds on March 12, he will get another chance to fight an elite fighter. However, if Cotto defeats Mayorga he may face a fighter like Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. or get a re-match against Mexican warrior Antonio Margarito.

But who will most likely pull off the victory on March 12? Miguel Cotto or Ricardo Mayorga?

I respectfully believe Miguel Cotto will most likely pull of the victory by unanimous decision against El Matador. There are five reasons why I believe Mayorga will end up having a meeting with failure on the day of the fight.

Reason #1. Miguel Cotto is not the same warrior that fought Pacquiao or Margarito. Emanuel Steward is Cotto’s new trainer and I believe he has made him a better fighter. Steward had four months to fix many of Cotto’s errors and get him ready for the June 5th battle. Not only did he do a great job, but saw a different side of Cotto. A side that’s difficult to find like the dark side of the moon. Miguel Cotto’s jab, hooks, and combinations looked sharp, strong and healthy. Cotto was a different fighter when he fought Foreman, he looked strong and confident. He kept coming forward like a walking tank delivering huge explosive bombs on Foremans body. Ricardo Mayorga won’t be any different, he will be easier to hit. El Matador likes to trade punches and that will be one of the few mistakes Mayorga will commit.

Reason#2. Ricardo Mayorga is a decent fighter with good punching power. However, I have seen Mayorga training for his fight and he does not look in great shape. Stamina may be a huge problem for the Nicaraguan champ. Specially when fighting a fighter that has improved his jab and likes to create distance with that quick jab.

Reason#3. Miguel Cotto has that explosive left hook. If he continues to do the right combinations and chooses the left hook as one of his main weapons when battling Mayorga. I believe Mayorga will get knocked down in the later rounds; possibly on the 6th or 8th round. But won’t get knocked out. It all depends if Mayorga will be in the greatest shape for the fight. For some strange reason, the Nicaruagan champ seems to lose against good elite fighters in the later rounds, perhaps due to lack of stamina.

Reason#4: Miguel Cotto has good body and head movement when fighting against his opponents. If Mayorga tries to trade punches, he may not land that many. Cotto’s body movement could possibly frustrate Ricardo Mayorga and will make him rush, causing El Matador to commit many errors that will make a difference in the fight. Mayorga will most likely get tired and lose important energy when missing the majority of the punches against Cotto.

Reason#5. Ricardo Mayorga was a good boxer a few years ago, however, I saw plenty of errors when he fought Michael Walker. He had poor head-movement, was flat footed, didn’t look quick and foot-work was not the greatest. If he wants to win against a fighter like Cotto, he will need to improve in many different areas. Not to mention, his right hooks were too wide and offered his chin way too much. In order for Mayorga to defeat the Puerto Rican warrior he will need to move around the ring more and have better head-movement. Sadly he won’t move around a lot, since he relies on his physical strength only. A terrible mistake that many fighters commit; until they find out that without stamina they have no power and will be force to surrender.

If Emanuel Steward made Miguel Cotto better in four months, then how good will he be on March 12? The boxing world may be silent and not know; at this moment the answer remains unknown. However the “answer” could end up shocking the world either way. There’s nothing we can do right now but predict and make educated guesses. One thing for sure, we will soon witness the warrior that will end up with the key to success. The dimension of a champion.