Miguel Cotto and Sergio Martinez are set to square off at Madison Square Garden on June 7 for Martinez's WBC middleweight title in one of 2014's premier fights, but a bigger one might be waiting for the winner.
Freddie Roach rips Martinez as a "soccer player," predicts KO in 8?
According to reports, boxing's current knockout king, Gennady Golovkin, is eyeing the winner after a bout with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Rumor has it that "GGG" is close to nailing down a date with Chavez Jr., and Golovkin's team is already planning ahead.
"We don't expect a blowout win over Chavez but he's going to 168 lbs. only for this fight," Tom Loeffler, Golovkin's promoter said. "The weight-those were the terms from Chavez's side, but Gennady still has a lot to prove in the middleweight division."
While GGG is one of boxing's most entertaining champions, he has come under some criticism for the level of his competition-on the other hand it's apparent many top-level fighters aren't supremely interested in feeling his concrete fists. That's why the Chavez Jr. fight is crucial to raise Golovkin's profile, and make him impossible to ignore.
Loeffler acknowledged that GGG cannot be considered the top middleweight until he faces Martinez and beats him. "I know Sergio Martinez is the lineal champion, but we want to prove Gennady is the best middleweight champion, and the only way to do that is to get him in the ring.
"I think the Martinez-Cotto winner is everyone's target. What more can you say about Miguel Cotto going back to Madison Square Garden and Sergio Martinez, the middleweight champion?"
While Golovkin plots, both Cotto and Martinez are promising knockouts in an increasingly contentious promotion. Cotto has remained relatively stoic in the face of insults hurled at him by "Maravilla," with his trainer Freddie Roach acting as a mouthpiece.
Recently Martinez predicted exactly which round Cotto will fall. "I not only have dislike for him," Martinez said, "Because of the disrespect I have received from him in all of the negotiations, I will beat the [heck] out of him, and before the ninth round, I will knock him out."
Roach didn't appreciate the slight at retorted, "Yeah, we'll knock him out in eight." He also dismissed Martinez's boxing skills and referred to him as a "soccer player."
Can either Cotto or Sergio take Golovkin down? Let us know @SportsWN
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