Cotto vs. Martinez

By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) expects to ruin the goal of Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) of him winning a fourth division world title when they meet each other in two months on June 7th on HBO pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Sergio has no doubts in his mind that he’ll be knocking Cotto out, and keeping his World Boxing Council 160lb title.

Martinez thinks that the only reason why the 33-year-old Cotto wants to fight him now is because he thinks his knee is still hurt from his last two fights against Martin Murray and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, and wants to take advantage of this. Martinez says his knee is now 100% after he’s rested it and had it repaired.

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By Dan Ambrose: Freddie Roach, the trainer for Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s), is having him bulk up for his June 7th title challenge against WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) at Madison Square Garden in New York. Cotto is already a big fighter who weighs in for his junior middleweight fights in the 160s, but Roach wants Cotto, 5’7”, to add more muscle so that he can compete better against the 5’10” Martinez for the fight.

“Miguel began preparing on Sunday,” said Bryan Perez, the executive director of Miguel Cotto Promotions to ESPN Deportes. “Originally we were going to start on April 14. That was the date, but when we met Freddie, he decided that he wanted us to start on March 30th for the preparation to get a base, and that’s what we’re doing. Miguel obeyed the order. Freddie has a plan well designed to increase muscle mass, and Miguel is already working on it.”

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(Photo credit: Chris Farina/Top Rank) By Dan Ambrose: Former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) was talking like a real tough guy today in his press conference with WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) to discuss his title challenge against him on June 7th. Their fight will be televised by HBO pay-per-view. It’s difficult to see the Cotto-Martinez fight as being worthy of being on PPV simply because Cotto has lost 2 out of his last 3 fights.

Cotto’s won 1 out of his last 3 fights, and that’s a pretty low standard to be asking fans to have to pay to see him fight. HBO might as well be picking out some of the other fighters that have lost 2 out of their last 3 fights and asking for fans to pay to see them, because frankly I don’t see the Cotto-Martinez fight being worthy of paying even a dime to see. It’s more regular HBO or ESPN than s a fight that fans should have to pay to see.

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(Photo credit: Chris Farina/Showtime) By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO’s) will be fighting a smaller guy in Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KO’s) on June 7th in their catch-weight fight at 159 lbs at the Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York, USA. The two fighters met on Monday in a press conference at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico to discuss the fight. What was surprising about the two fighters was how much bigger Sergio was compared to the 5’7″ Cotto.

Sergio looked considerably larger, and that’s something that wasn’t lost on him. He noticed how small Cotto was, and he figures that he won’t be standing by the 9th round when the two of them meet up in three months at MSG.

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By Bob Smith: Since the fight between Miguel Cotto and Sergio Martinez has been signed for June 7, various commentators have begun to make predictions about the outcome. Really, all of it depends on the degree to which his knee is a problem and the extent to which he has aged in the ring. The last round of his fight with Julio Ceasar Chavez Jr. was a costly war, and anyone who witnessed his match with Martin Murray, where he barely squeaked by with a hometown decision, can attest to the fact that he was not the same Sergio Martinez on that night.

And of course, the open question is which Sergio Martinez will show up – the explosive one from 2009 to late 2012, that rocked Paul Williams, defeated Martin Murray and Darren Barker and totally outclassed Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. for 11 rounds until he succumbed to an unwise slugfest, or the much diminished recipient of a barely deserved decision against Martin Murray.

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By Bradley Dee: I started watching Miguel Cotto way back when he was a Jr. Welterweight. This was a young, strong fighter who did what a lot of boxers were not doing, attacking the body. In his early years, Cotto was always committed to the body and the dividends that bodywork pays, either sooner, or later in a fight.

Fast forward and Cotto moves up to welterweight, and the bodywork is still there. Little by little though, there’s less body attack as he moves up in weight. Eventually, he focuses less on the body and more on the head. Now at 154 pounds he’s well above his natural weight, and with several losses under his belt, he’s looking to move back to that original strategy of body attack after losing lopsided decisions against Austin Trout and Floyd Mayweather.

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