By Jim Dower: Former WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s) is making a huge mistake in moving up in weight to take on World Boxing Association junior middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) in June. Foreman, 29, has a style of fighting that is all wrong for Cotto. Not only will Foreman have the four inch height advantage, but he also will have a five inch reach advantage as well for a fight against the 5’7” Cotto.

You can basically ignore the fact that Cotto has the more power of the two, because Foreman doesn’t stand and trade with his opponents like typical fighters do. Foreman specializes in the old hit and run technique, something he is quite good at. He mixes this up with a punch and grab routine that makes it difficult for his opponents to throw anything back at him before he wraps them up in a tight clinch.

What makes Foreman even difficult to fight is that he charges forward with his head down and often collides with the head of his opponents causing cuts for both him and them. He’s totally unlike anyone that Cotto has fought before and I see him losing this fight rather badly. Cotto is even small for a welterweight, and taking on fairly big junior middleweight like Foreman is really asking for it.

Cotto has taken a beating in three out of his last four fights, losing two of them but taking a lot of punishment in his fights against Manny Pacquiao, Joshua Clottey and especially against Antonio Margarito. The last thing that Cotto needs right now is another tough opponent to struggle against.

Foreman may not be a big slugger like Clottey, Margarito and Pacquiao, but he hits plenty hard enough to cause Cotto problems. But what’s worse is that Foreman is so difficult to hit consistently with anything other a jab. He moves too much and limits contact because of his in an out style of fighting.

Cotto may not be in the right frame of mind for a fight as tough as this one will likely be. Foreman will frustrate Cotto with his elusive style, and Cotto hasn’t looked good in the past against slick boxers like Zab Judah and Oktay Urkal. Foreman is much slicker and bigger than those fighters, and Cotto is going to have to figure out a way to catch up to him enough to beat him.

If Cotto was a taller fighter with a long reach like say Carlos Quintana, then I could see Cotto beating Foreman. But Cotto doesn’t have boxing skills like Quintana. He doesn’t well, doesn’t have a long job and isn’t good at cutting off the ring against a mover like Foreman. I can see this fight ending badly for Cotto and possibly ending his career.

I think Cotto can still be an effective welterweight against most of the fighters in the division apart from Mayweather, Margarito and Pacquiao, but Foreman is a step too far for Cotto in my estimation. I don’t see Cotto being able to catch up to Foreman to wear him down with body shots. He’s not that type of fighter to just stand there and let his opponents work him over.

I think once Foreman gets Cotto frustrated, the fight will go downhill from that point on for Miguel. He’ll lose his confidence even more and I can see the fight getting way out of hand. I doubt Foreman will stop him, but it won’t matter. Cotto will end up getting dominated again like he was against Pacquiao.