Sergio Martinez: The judges won’t be needed for Cotto fight

cotto33By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) will be the B-side in his fight next month against Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s), even though he’s the one with the title in this fight. Cotto is the proven pay-per-view star, and the fight is taking place in his stomping grounds in New York. But Martinez, 39, isn’t really all that worried about potentially being robbed by the judges in the fight, because he intends on turning them into mere spectators by knocking Cotto out.

“I am not worried about the judges being swayed in this bout or any questionable decisions, because there is no way this fight is going the distance,” Martinez said.

Sergio might turn out to be correct with his belief. This fight is going to be a really tough one for Cotto because he’s not faced anyone with the kind of power that Martinez has in his career. The biggest puncher that Cotto has faced during his 13-year pro career was Manny Pacquiao, and he had Cotto wilting almost immediately. Cotto was dropped in the fight, and he then was pretty much useless and playing it safe for the remainder of the fight until getting stopped in the 12th round.

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Golovkin wants Cotto-Martinez winner

golovkin4566By Dan Ambrose: WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KO’s) is hoping he can get a shot at the winner of the June 7th fight between WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez vs. Miguel Cotto. Golovkin matches up well with either of these guys, and it would give Golovkin his first big name of his career.

Golovkin thought he was close to getting a fight against former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, but the negotiations between the two fighters’ teams fell apart recently leaving Golovkin staring at a fight against either Daniel Geale, who was beaten last year by Darren Barker, or Jarrod Fletcher. Neither option is particularly interesting.

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Will HBO PPV get the Last Laugh in 2014?

floyd62111So far in 2014, the boxing pay-per-view advantage appears to be with HBO. HBO might have dodged a bullet by not making a counteroffer to keep Floyd Mayweather Jr. from going to Showtime. Mayweather marketed himself towards the Mexican fan base who wants to see him lose against one of their countrymen. If Golden Boy does not have a Mexican champion to offer Mayweather, the only other option is fight a superstar like in the past Miguel Cotto or Shane Mosley to achieve high pay-per-view numbers.

Fortunately, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was a boxing star and a powerful paper champion, but Golden Boy was forced to use him due to the poor pay-per-view numbers Mayweather had against Robert Guerrero. Even with no credible wins, Canelo was able to draw in many Mexican fans as for the first 39 fights and 7 years of his professional career were strategically based in Mexico.

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Sergio Martinez: I’m going to use my intelligence to beat Cotto

martinez66By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) says he’s going to out-smart challenger Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) in their fight on June 7th, and knock him out well before the distance when the square off at Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York. Sergio’s surgically repaired knee as good as knew, and as good as it was before he injured it, he says.

“The real difference is going to be my intelligence & my ring generalship,” Martinez said. “There’s no doubt in my mind it’s gonna be an early stoppage. The judges are not gonna have to put in that much work on this evening. This fight is definitely not going the distance.”

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Sergio Martinez calls Cotto a “diva”

martinez5By Dan Ambrose: Much of this past Saturday’s Face Off: Cotto vs. Martinez with Max Kellerman on HBO was preoccupied with WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) taking issue with him being the B side in his title defense against challenger Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) for their catch-weight fight at 159 lbs on June 7th fight at Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York, USA.

Martinez had a hard time coming to terms with Cotto getting a lot of the things in his favor in the negotiations for the fight, such as him being allowed to enter the ring last and other things. Martinez felt that he should be the A side because he’s the WBC champion and Cotto is just the challenger.

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Cotto vs. Martinez: HBO’s Face Off w/ Max Kellerman (Review)

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By Rocky Esposito: Wow! Excellent, that’s all I can say! Call me naive, but the disdain that these two fighters have for each other is actually real and palpable. I heard mostly all of their comments/slights towards each other before the airing of their “Face Off” episode and I initially chalked it up typical Pre-Fight Hype. However, after watching their Face Off, you can tell, (especially from Sergio Martinez), he sincerely dislikes Cotto.

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Arum: Pacquiao has agreed to fight Cotto-Martinez winner

pac888By Chris Williams: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says that Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO’s) wants to fight the winner of the June 7th fight between WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) and Miguel Cotto (38-2, 31 KO’s). What Arum doesn’t say is what weight Pacquiao will be fighting the winner of that fight at. Given Pacquiao’s history of fighting bigger guys at strength draining catch weights, it won’t work if the Cotto-Sergio winner has to drain down to 147 or 150 in order to give Pacquiao a big enough handicap for the fight to take place.

“Yeah, Manny has agreed to fight the winner [of Cotto vs. Martinez,” Arum said. “I haven’t talked to either of these fighters whether if they won if they would want to fight Manny, but I’ll do that after the fight. I’ll only have to talk to one guy, not two.”

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Sergio Martinez plans on sending Cotto into retirement on June 7th

sergio4454(Photo courtesy of Top Rank & DiBella Entertainment/Justin Lopez) By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) figures that the beat down he’ll be giving challenger Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) in their HBO pay-per-view fight on June 7th will send the 33-year-old Cotto into retirement after the fight and put a wrap on his long 13-year pro career when the two of them face each other at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Cotto’s career is limping along with now with him having been beaten in 2 out of his last 3 fights. He has a new trainer in Freddie Roach who has been giving him a lot of pep talks, and has him throwing a bit more to the body than he has in the recent past, but Cotto is still basically the same fighter that was out-boxed by Austin Trout and Floyd Mayweather Jr. recently.

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Roach: Cotto can KO Sergio Martinez by concentrating on his body

roach67By Dan Ambrose: Trainer Freddie Roach believes that his fighter Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) will be able to score a knockout next month by going to the body in his title shot against WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) Madison Square Garden in New York. Roach thinks that Cotto’s body punching will sap the strength out of the 39-year-old Sergio and ultimately lead to a stoppage victory for him.

Roach doesn’t say how Cotto will be able to get near enough to land his big shots with Martinez constantly moving in circles for 12 rounds, but Roach still sees Cotto getting to Sergio at some point to take him out with a big body shot.

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De La Hoya: Canelo can still fight Cotto even if he loses to Sergio Martinez

cotto67666By Dan Ambrose: Oscar De La Hoya wants to match former WBA/WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez against Miguel Cotto this year even if Cotto loses his June 7th fight against WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez at Madison Square Garden in New York. De La Hoya thinks that Cotto won’t lose any anything from a defeat to Sergio because he’s moving up in weight from 154 to 160, and fans aren’t going to hold it against him if he gets beaten.

“Canelo is in such a great position…Let’s say Cotto loses [to Sergio Martinez], he was fighting at 160, he doesn’t belong there,” De Loya said. “He [Cotto] can come back down to 154 and fight Canelo.”

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