There seems to be a lot of motivating factors leading up to Miguel Cotto's clash with Sergio Martinez for the WBC middleweight crown on Saturday June 7 at Madison Square Garden, but for Cotto, the top driving force isn't Martinez's constant taunts. It is the pursuit of Martinez's middleweight belt, which would be the fourth for Cotto in as many weight classes.
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"It is a personal matter - a personal achievement that I want to win and I am working for it on [Saturday]," Cotto said on a conference call. He then stopped short of saying it would make him the greatest fighter in boxing-rich Puerto Rico's history, but insinuated it would place him in their class.
"It doesn't mean that I am going to be better than Wilfredo Gomez, better than Felix Trinidad, better than all of the great champions that Puerto Rico has produced. But for me, Miguel, it will be the greatest accomplishment of my career."
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The stoic Cotto has largely avoided trapping himself in a war of words with the unusually talkative Sergio, who has attacked Cotto's character multiple times, called him names such as "little girl" and "diva," and promised to knock him out in less than 10 rounds.
Martinez's main problem was with the demands Cotto made for the fight, such as top billing in promotion and being introduced second. He claimed these should be afforded to him and not Cotto, since he's the champion. Cotto has refused to fire back much, simply saying, "If Sergio has any kind of issue with anything about this fight, he can discuss it with his [representatives]. We closed the deal a long time ago, and now it is time to train, and we can't talk about anything else."
Cotto also warned Martinez about preparing as if he's going to knock him out. "I train for 12 rounds of war. If he only trains for seven or eight, he is going to be in trouble after that because I am prepared to go the whole distance and to do whatever it takes to win."
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