Marquez still wants Cotto at 147

By Boxing News - 07/07/2016 - Comments

marquez44444

By Dan Ambrose: If Miguel Cotto wants the fight against 42-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40 KOs) this year, then he’s going to need to lose some water weight and/or muscle to get down to 147, because that’s the highest the Mexican warrior is willing to go. Marquez does not want to fight Cotto above 147, and it makes sense because he’s not nearly as heavy as the Puerto Rican star.

Marquez has an advantage in getting his way, because Cotto doesn’t have many options. He can either find a way to melt down to 147, or he can bite the bullet and fight one of the quality contenders or champions at 154.

It doesn’t look like Cotto wants to do that. He would have a very hard time if he had to fight the likes of the Charlo brothers, Erislandy Lara, Austin Trout or Julian Williams. Cotto should have taken what many fans see as the weak link among the champions at 154 by taking on WBO belt holder Liam Smith.

By not taking that fight, Cotto missed out, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has scheduled a fight against Smith for September 17, and he’s got a good chance of picking up his paper title. It’s seen as a weak move on Canelo’s part, but he won’t have nearly the risk involved in this fight than he would if he had to take on one of the talented 154lb fighters.

“It will be an interesting [fight] as long as Cotto makes 147 pounds,” said Marquez to ESPN Deportes. “I have fought at 147 pounds with Pacquiao. If Cotto agrees tp 147 pounds, I would be delighted to be able to make it,” said Marquez.

Marquez says he’s not interested in fighting at 148lbs either. He feels that the extra pound is too important, and he doesn’t want to give Cotto an advantage.

“Now it seems that they want to 148. For me that pound is very important and a pound for to mark the weight is crucial. He will have to sacrifice more and why not? There is no advantage for me, but it will take work down [for Cotto] and he’ll be a little diminished to make weight, but the next day he is going to recover,” said Marquez.

Marquez hasn’t fought since 2014, and he’s going to be at a great disadvantage against Cotto no matter what weight they agree to. Marquez will have ring rust, age, weight, and a likely knee problem that will make it difficult for him to beat the younger 35-year-old Cotto. Marquez has had a knee problem that has kept him out of the ring since his fight against Mike Alvarado in 2014.

I don’t think Cotto has any other choice but to agree to the 147lb fight against Marquez if he wants a big payday in a winnable fight. Cotto isn’t likely going to get a similar payday in a fight that he can actually win. I don’t think Cotto can beat the top junior middleweights, and he doesn’t appear to be interested in fighting middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. The other top middleweights would be dangerous fights for Cotto due to his small size. If you put Cotto in with Daniel Jacobs, I think Cotto would get knocked out. Jacobs is too fast, too powerful, and too big for Cotto.