Miguel Cotto is set to face off with middleweight champion Sergio Martinez on June 7, and while Martinez has done the majority of the chirping in the build up, Cotto finally fired back on HBO's Face Off with Max Kellerman.
"Maravilla" out to prove he isn't "ripe for the picking"
Martinez lobbed his typical barbs, comparing Cotto to a woman for the various demands he made during negotiations. "He has made demands that a diva would make. The red corner, coming in last into the ring, being introduced last into the ring and other things. If these aren't diva demands then tell me what you'd call them," Martinez said.
Martinez also goaded Kellerman, asking him which fighter he would bet on to win the bout. Cotto countered by finally answering Martinez's insults, calling him the B-side to this bout.
Miguel Cotto: Sergio will "feel the power" at middleweight
"I was in the same position twice and that was my position. I understood I was the B-side on those occasions," Cotto said. "It's simple. There's an equation: Side A, side B. How many times have you fought in Madison Square Garden?" Martinez has never fought at Madison Square Garden, whereas Cotto's made it a second home. "I've fought in the Garden 9 times. All sellouts. And I've been fighting PPV."
Martinez countered his A-Side, B-Side argument by questioning his performance against truly elite fighters. Cotto said he's fought two Class A fighters, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. "And you won both?" Martinez asked. "Ah! Right, you lost. Sorry. And if you've never beaten a class A, how it you're a class A?"
Prior to this face-to-face confrontation, Martinez has barked about knocking the proud Puerto Rican fighter out by the ninth round for his frequent slights and disrespectful actions.
"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."
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