By Dan Ambrose: Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) started his career at 140 back in 2001, and he’s now going to be moving up to 160 on Saturday night to face WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) for his 160 lb. title at Madison Square Garden in New York. Martinez has quite rightly pointed out that Cotto, 5’7”, will be little more than a welterweight in terms of power no matter how much weight he puts on for this fight.
Martinez feels that a fighter with a frame of a light welterweight remains a light welterweight even if they gain weight, and so he’s not too worried about Cotto’s power for this fight.
Cotto though believes he’ll be packing middleweight power when he steps inside the ring on Saturday. He thinks he’s picked up more power in moving up in weight and he plans on showing it on Saturday.
“Can I carry my power up to 160? I’m a puncher and my power has come with me from 140 to here at 160,” Cotto said. “It’s a lot easier to make weight and do my job at 160 pounds. Weight isn’t a big issue for this fight. I’m not worried about Sergio and what he has done or what he will do. I’m only worried about what I need to do…what Freddie has taught me…what we worked on in training camp. The man with the best skills will win this fight Freddie Roach is my Scottie Pippen. Our chemistry together has been great.”
Cotto has already been rehydrating up to 160 for his fights at 154, so it’s not as if he’s going to be all that much bigger. At best, we’re probably talking about Cotto coming into the fight in the mid-160s on Saturday. At 5’7”, you really can’t much more size on a fighter than 160 and expect them to be able to fight at a high level.
The added muscle, if anything, will actually hurt Cotto rather than help him, because it’ll make him slower and will tire him out. If he has punching harder, it’s likely not by a whole to where it’s going to help him. He’s built like a little tank, and throwing more muscle on him is going to be like strapping a rocket on a skateboard. It’s not going to help him because he doesn’t have the frame for the extra size.
““To be the first Puerto Rican to win a world title in four divisions would be an achievement,” Cotto said. “Gomez, 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.”
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