Sergio Martinez: The judges won’t be needed for Cotto fight

By Boxing News - 05/22/2014 - Comments

cotto33By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) will be the B-side in his fight next month against Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s), even though he’s the one with the title in this fight. Cotto is the proven pay-per-view star, and the fight is taking place in his stomping grounds in New York. But Martinez, 39, isn’t really all that worried about potentially being robbed by the judges in the fight, because he intends on turning them into mere spectators by knocking Cotto out.

“I am not worried about the judges being swayed in this bout or any questionable decisions, because there is no way this fight is going the distance,” Martinez said.

Sergio might turn out to be correct with his belief. This fight is going to be a really tough one for Cotto because he’s not faced anyone with the kind of power that Martinez has in his career. The biggest puncher that Cotto has faced during his 13-year pro career was Manny Pacquiao, and he had Cotto wilting almost immediately. Cotto was dropped in the fight, and he then was pretty much useless and playing it safe for the remainder of the fight until getting stopped in the 12th round.

The other fighters that Cotto has faced during his career were guys with light to medium power such as Floyd Mayweather Jr, Antonio Margarito and Ricardo Mayorga. None of those guys are big punchers or even close to being big punchers.

It’s going to be difficult for Cotto to last long in this fight once Sergio starts sitting down on his shots. Cotto will do okay as long as Martinez is just touching him with jabs, but when he starts sitting down on his shots, it’ll likely be over very quickly with Cotto hitting the deck after swelling up.

Trainer Freddie Roach has Cotto believing that he’s a rejuvenated fighter due to Roach having Cotto using his left hooks a lot more than he used to. However, Cotto doesn’t have the reach to land his shots unless his opponents stop dead in their tracks and let him walk up on them. Sergio has never been the type of fighter that just stands there in one place. He’s constantly moving, even when he’s got injuries to his legs.

Martinez will not let Cotto land his shots because he’s going to be on the move constantly and staying on the outside for as long as this fight lasts.



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