Miguel Cotto will be fighting for the first time in his illustrious career at middleweight on June 7 when he battles Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez for the middleweight crown. While moving up in weight typically represents the possibility of power failing to translate, the Puerto Rican sees it as an advantage.
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"In these two weeks of camp, we worked on the strength without any thoughts about the weight," Cotto said of his training camp with Freddie Roach. "Making and creating muscle mass. I know that I am fighting with strength and that's going to make a difference."
In the past Cotto has sometimes strained himself to make lower weights, perhaps robbing him of some of his famed punching power. The fact that he can train without that added stress is good news for him, as Sergio may be the toughest test he's faced yet.
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"I am very focused on this fight," said Cotto. "I step into the gym every day thinking about the fight without any thoughts about my weight, you know? Without any thoughts on my mind about the weight. It's about the fight."
While Martinez is the champion in this weight class, he is also a small middleweight that is recovering from some serious injuries to his knee and hand. In addition, he's been knocked down in each of his last three fights.
Still, Martinez has claimed he's healthy and is gunning for a knockout of Cotto. "I not only have dislike for him," Martinez said in March. "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."
Cotto's remained largely silent except for insinuating Martinez is playing a bad guy role for the cameras to promote the bout. "No, no. He understands the business, he's going to continue trash talking," Cotto said.
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