The right knee that kept WBC middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, 39, out of action for more than a year still isn't 100 percent. He says his partially torn meniscus is closer to 90 percent.
But that's good enough for Martinez, who will defend his belt June 7 against former junior middleweight/welterweight/junior welterweight titleholder Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Martinez (51-2-2, 28 knockouts) will step in the ring with a chip on his shoulder. He's fed up that people still question his punching power or the notion that a victory over Cotto is necessary to earn him respect. And there's the matter of having to make several concessions during the negotiation process to secure this fight.
For these reasons, Martinez plans to make Cotto pay dearly on the eve of the annual Puerto Rican Day Parade. There is no doubt in his mind that Cotto's night will be over long before the 12th round.
"I am always 100 percent confident of winning by knockout in every fight," Martinez told SportsWorldNews.com. "But I haven't felt like this since the Paul Williams rematch."
The rematch with Paul Williams; Martinez remembers it as if it took place yesterday. After coming out on the short end of a majority decision in their first meeting, Martinez went into the November 2010 bout with a bit of an attitude.
His usual Mr. Nice-guy persona had vanished. Martinez had destruction on his mind: The judges would not have a say in outcome the second time around.
A Martinez left hook at 2:02 of the second round finished the matter. Williams never saw the punch coming and fell face forward to the canvas.
Now 3½ years later comes Cotto (38-3, 31 KOs). Like Wiliams, Cotto is a former junior middle/welterweight champion certain he has what it takes to lift the 160-pound strap from Martinez. And Cotto, just like Williams before him, has demanded the bout be contested at a catch-weight. Neither man can weigh in above 159 pounds.
That's one of the concessions Martinez was forced to make.
While Martinez isn't shy about expressing his eagerness to punish Cotto, what fuels him most is a burning desire to return to action. He hasn't competed since April 2013 - a unanimous decision over Martin Murray.
Martinez used the yearlong layoff to recover from the knee injury suffered in September 2012 during a unanimous decision win over Julio Cesar Chavez.
He views the time off as good for him, but terribly bad for the 33-year-old Cotto.
"When someone has been in boxing for 20 years and has taken a year off, it's not a problem because you have 20 years of experience, so that year layoff is not going to affect me in the least."
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