By Jason Kim: On June 12th, Miguel Cotto (34-2, 27 KO’s) will be facing World Boxing Association light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman (28-0, 8 KO’s) in a fight that pits the well known Cotto against Foreman, a fighter that few people aside from hardcore boxing fans have ever heard of. Both Cotto and Foreman fight for Top Rank promotions. Cotto, 29, seems to be on the way down on his career after losing to Antonio Margarito and recently to Manny Pacquiao in knockout losses. Cotto also took a lot of punishment in a 12 round split decision win over Joshua Clottey in 2009.

In looking at the Cotto-Foreman fight, it’s hard to see what the appeal is for Cotto in this fight. In terms of star power, he greatly out shadow’s the little known Foreman and one has to wonder why, if this Cotto’s idea, he would want to waste his time fighting someone who isn’t a huge star in the boxing world like him. In looking at this fight, it appears that Cotto is going to be building up Foreman’s name by taking this fight at the expense of his own.

Why Cotto would choose a fighter like Foreman is unknown. It’s a fight that if you were to put both fighters on a scale that weighs star power, Cotto’s end would be to the floor while the obscure Foreman’s end would be way up in the air. As such, Cotto is doing Foreman a huge favor in taking this fight and taking a calculated risk by making his fight.

Cotto, who has taken a lot of bad punishment in three of his fights in the past two year years, will be moving up in weight to take on Foreman for his title. But what is to be gained from this if the title that Cotto gets won’t have the desired results of winning Cotto any new respect among boxing fans. They will likely see a win over Foreman as I do.

In other words, Cotto looking for a vulnerable opponent in a different weight class to pick up a title against. If Cotto wanted to really accomplish something, he would stay at welterweight and try to go after one of the other champions like WBC title holder Andre Berto or IBF champion Jan Zaveck. With a win over either one of those fighters, Cotto would then use that belt as leverage for a unification bout against WBO champion Manny Pacquiao or the WBA belt holder, which is currently held by Shane Mosley.

Those seem like much more appealing fights than going after Foreman. It’s hard to imagine what Cotto sees in going after Foreman. Is this Cotto’s idea to take this fight? He may be sorry later for taking this fight, because Foreman is a tough fighter to beat, but I just don’t see the point in it. Where is the value for Cotto in taking this bout? It just seems like a poor and risky fight for Cotto, one that could end with him losing yet again.