By Jim Dower: Both Miguel Cotto and Sergio Martinez (46-2-2, 25 KO’s) will be fighting on March 12th in separate bouts in different venues. Martinez will be fighting Sergiy Dzinziruk (37-0, 23 KO’s) for the vacant WBC middleweight Diamond belt at the Foxwoods Resort Casino, in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Cotto, 30, is facing a tough bout against Ricardo Mayorga at the MGM Grand on the 12th.

If both Cotto and Martinez with their respective bouts, it could open up the possibility of a fight between Martinez and Cotto. However, the one thing that may get in the way of that happening is that Martinez doesn’t fight for Top Rank, and that could destroy any chances that there may be of the fight taking place. Martinez says he wants this fight rather than moving up in weight to the super middleweight division to chase the big names at that weight.

Cotto, the WBA junior middleweight champion, would be a good fight for Martinez because he would have a size advantage over Cotto and that would help Martinez in a big way. Without a fight against Cotto, Martinez’s options are slim at middleweight due to the lack of big names at the weight class. Former WBC/WBO champ Kelly Pavlik just moved up in weight to the super middleweight division, but he has an advantage compared to the 5’10” Martinez because Pavlik is 6’2 1/2″ and has the height and frame to fight against the bigger fighters at that weight. Martinez would struggle. As such, Cotto might be the best thing that Martinez can hope for after the Dzinziruk fight. There’s also Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. if he beats WBC champion Sebastian Zbik in June, but Chavez Jr. isn’t a big star in the U.S.