Marquez wants Cotto fight in September or October

By Boxing News - 02/12/2016 - Comments

marquez777aBy Dan Ambrose:
Former three division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs) wants to take a tune-up fight in May to get the rust out, and then after that, he would like to face middleweight Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) in September or October this year. Maruez, 42, has not fought since May of 2014 due to an injury he suffered in his fight against Mike Alvarado.

If he has to face the 35-year-old Cotto, then he will need a good tune-up to get ready for that fight. Marquez has been in contact with Cotto’s management, and they reportedly are interested in the fight.

Cotto lost his WBC middleweight title in his last fight to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, and he wants to return to the ring in June against an opponent still to be determined. A fight against Marquez would be idea for Cotto later this year.

“I talked to Cotto’s people and told them about my situation and what I want,” Marquez said to sportinglife.com. “It appears that Cotto wants to fight in June and I want to fight in May because two years of inactivity is a very important factor.”

Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach said recently that a fight between Cotto and Marquez was not possible due to Marquez wanting a tune-up fight first. He said they would not wait around for him. However, Roach doesn’t make the decisions for Cotto, and he’s going to need an opponent for later this year anyway unless he plans on fighting only once in 2016. That is always a possibility for Cotto, because he has not been the most active of fighters since he defeated Sergio Martinez to capture his WBC middleweight title in 2014.

“I have to get on pace with a fight in May and then why not consider a fight with Cotto in September or October”? Marquez said.

Marquez has fought only twice since stopping Manny Pacquiao in the sixth round in their fourth fight in December 2012. Tim Bradley then beat Marquez by a 12 round split decision in October 2013. Marquez followed that loss with a 12 round decision win over Alvarado in May 2014.

Marquez could probably get a fifth fight out of Pacquiao if he wanted to. Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum has been eager to stage a fifth fight between them since shortly after their fight in 2012, but Marquez has been resistant to the idea of fighting the Filipino fighter again.

Marquez says he wants to enjoy his memories of that knockout, and he does not want to mess it up by fighting Pacquiao again. Marquez was arguably robbed in his first three fights with Pacquiao in losing two of them and getting a draw in his first.

Cotto is in a bad spot where he needs to find suitable opposition to face, but he would have problems if he took on some of the best fighters in the 154lb division like Jermall Charlo, Demetrius Andrade and Erislandy Lara. Even if Cotto fought some of the top middleweights, he would likely struggle without a catch-weight to weaken them.



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