By Dan Ambrose: WBA junior middleweight champion Miquel Cotto (35-2, 28 KO’s) badly wants a rematch with Manny Pacquiao so that he can improve upon the bad performance that Cotto had in that fight when he battered to pieces and taken out in the 12th round in an uncompetitive fight two years ago. Cotto, however, has to beat Ricardo Mayorga (29-7-1, 23 KO’s) on March 12th before he can hope to get a big money rematch with Pacquiao.

If Mayorga destroys Cotto, then Miguel might as well forget a future rematch against Pacquiao because their mutual promoter Bob Arum wouldn’t have a chance in million to push a Cotto-Pacquiao rematch by unsuspecting boxing fans if Cotto can’t even beat 37-year-old Mayorga. The main issue for Cotto is that he’s taken so much punishment in the ring in the last four years, especially in the two, that he can’t be counted on to beat any fighter in the top five with any degree of certainty.

While some boxing fans might point out that Mayorga isn’t ranked in the top 5 or even the top 10, but that’s because he’s been mostly inactive for the past three years, taking it easy and fighting only occasionally and for good money. Mayorga would likely be ranked in the top five right now if he had the urgency to fight as often as some of the fighters that are still trying to make a living and a name for themselves. As such, Mayorga is a lot better than his ranking and age would have you believe.

Mayorga has enough left in the tank to not only give Cotto problems but also to beat him. Cotto isn’t a big junior middleweight at only 5’7″ compared to the 5’9″ Mayorga, and Cotto doesn’t take shots as well as Mayorga does. Cotto seems to break down first with his skin getting ripped and torn, and then he has problems taking hard shots as well. The hard fights against Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey and Pacquiao has really done a number on Cotto, making him very susceptible.