By Dan Ambrose: A fight many boxing fans would love to see is a bout between WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KO’s) and WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (35-2, 28 KO’s) in 2011.

This would be a natural fight for anyone to figure out when taking a look at the top fighters in the junior middleweight and middleweight divisions. The question is whether Cotto’s promoter Bob Arum will risk Cotto’s neck by putting him in with a fighter as good as Martinez.

It’s not that Martinez is the hugest puncher in boxing, but he’s got a things going for him in terms of being a southpaw, power and movement that might make a promoter like Arum think twice before matching his fighter Cotto against Martinez.

Arum seems to have the same philosophy as Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach, who says that he would never match any of his fighters against opponents that he doesn’t think they can beat. Perhaps because of this, we don’t see Pacquiao fighting guys like Juan Manuel Marquez or Sergio Martinez.

It’s hard to imagine seeing Arum letting Cotto fight Martinez given how Arum usually matches his fighters in winnable fights unless they’re fighting an in-house fight against one of his own fighters. In that case, anything goes. But Martinez isn’t one of Arum’s fighters, so it’s difficult to imagine that Arum will allow Cotto to take this fight in 2011.

As things are, Cotto is already scheduled to fight on March 12th against Ricardo Mayorga, who fights for Don King. This is definitely a winnable fight for Cotto, which is probably the only reason that Arum is willing to let him take the fight.

Arum wants to put Cotto back in with another one of his fighters Antonio Margarito during the summer, and that’s another reason why Arum likely won’t match Cotto with Martinez. The other fight that Arum wants to put together is a rematch between Cotto and Pacquiao.

It’s a pointless rematch, but it’s a proven money maker for Arum, and since he promotes both fighters, it will be an even bigger money maker. Arum probably won’t allow Martinez to fight Cotto until that fight takes place. Once those fights happen, there’s a chance that Arum could allow Cotto to fight someone like Martinez, but I wouldn’t bet on it happening.