The new and improved Miguel Cotto was extremely impressive in beating Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez on June 7 at Madison Square Garden in claiming the middleweight championship, but could he really beat Floyd Mayweather Jr.?
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum thinks so. Cotto has looked thoroughly dominant in his first two fights working with famed trainer Freddie Roach, and he has Arum dreaming big. "If Cotto, with Freddie Roach, fought Mayweather again it would be no contest," Arum told BoxingScene.com. "Mayweather wouldn't have a [expletive] chance."
Cotto and Mayweather fought previously in 2012, sans Roach, and the fight was competitive despite Floyd winning convincingly. Arum's not the only one who thinks Cotto could give Mayweather problems though. Roach believed Cotto was ready for the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world after his October 2013 demolition of Delvin Rodriguez.
"Miguel is ready to go against Mayweather. He's in the best shape of his career," Roach said at the time. "He returned to the style that he needed to go back to. And as Miguel said last week, if I had been in his corner for the first fight against Mayweather - he would have won."
However, Mayweather's almost non-existent history of rematches, coupled with a reported interest in pairing Cotto against Golden Boy top dog Canelo Alvarez makes a Floyd rematch highly unlikely. Marcos Maidana, who gave Mayweather all he could handle in May is the likely next fight in a rematch of the entertaining scrap.
Another option could be Amir Khan, who has grand plans of facing Money in Wembley Stadium. "I really want to bring this fight to the U.K.," Khan told The Sun. "I've fought all over the world and been top of bill but this would be so much bigger."
Khan did look impressive against Luis Collazo on Mayweather's undercard, but he's still a questionable choice to take on the No. 1 boxer in the sport. Khan will likely need at least one more signature victory before earning such a prestigious title shot.
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