It hasn't been made official, and likely won't be until late January, but Puerto Rican boxing superstar Miguel Cotto seems destined to match up with middleweight champion Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez on June 7th for Martinez's belt.
As Cotto mulled the choice between Martinez and Canelo Alvarez, large figures were thrown around, and big-time promotions wrangled over his services. In the end, it appears the chance for Martinez's strap won him over.
"Winning that title at 160lbs is the main feature for the fight," Cotto said. If my goal wasn't to win the fourth title, I would have agreed to fight Canelo. A fourth title is an attractive alternative for me." No Puerto Rican born fighter has ever won four belts in four weight classes.
While Cotto is generally considered a class act in a sport more often than not populated by pompous personalities at the top, Martinez has issues with the Boricua slugger that cropped up all the way back when this matchup was a mere rumor.
"I will fight him, with no problem, on June 7, and I'm waiting for the negotiations to be finalized," said Martinez. "I'm very interested in the fight, but I'm the champion and Cotto is the challenger. I would love to fight Cotto, but I need to be treated with dignity."
Martinez's promoter Lou DiBella underscored those remarks, telling reporters, "Cotto is a superstar and Sergio respects [him.] He deserves this fight," said DiBella. "But the champion is Sergio, and [he wants] to be treated as such."
Whatever dignity afforded to Martinez, expect this fight to go down. Top Rank CEO Bob Arum has been pushing for this battle since Cotto demolished Delvin Rodriguez in early October, and all parties appear eager to finalize the bout.
"Miguel wants the fight. Sergio wants the fight. Top Rank wants the fight. I appreciate Cotto," said DiBella. "I have a good relationship with Gaby and always negotiated smoothly with Todd. So I see no obstacle that prevents a satisfactory agreement for all."
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