By James Slater – Sergio Martinez and Miguel Cotto looked close to facing one another at one point recently, but the talked-of 2011 fight fell apart during negotiations. Now, the two will go head-to-head in another manner. Martinez, the world middleweight king, will face a TBA in New York on March 12th. Cotto, the reigning WBA light-middleweight champion, will face Ricardo Mayorga in Las Vegas on that same night.
Cotto promoter Bob Arum has already made it clear to ESPN.com that he is not happy his pay-per-view show will be going up against a regular HBO show, and it will be interesting to see which card wins over the most fans. Who will prove to be the bigger box office attraction on March 12th – Cotto or Martinez?
Not yet knowing who Martinez will fight makes answering this question hard, but various sources do seem to suggest “Maravilla” will defend against Irishman Andy Lee.. That will be a reasonably interesting fight, but will too many fans give the Emanuel Steward-trained Lee a real shot at winning? Probably not.
In which case, will fans opt to tune in for the Vegas show between Cotto and the Nicaraguan wild man? This fight is reportedly 99-percent done, and on paper it looks to be a more “fun” fight than Martinez-Lee. Cotto will be looked at as the favourite in this fight, but Mayorga, with his power and unpredictable style, cannot be written off.
Mayorga, always a fun guy to listen to, has even gone as far as to send out a warning to pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao; saying that after he stops Cotto he will “go after” Pacquiao. You’ve got to like the sheer nerve and attitude of “El Matador!”
As for Cotto: if he wins on March 12th, chances are good he will then fight Mexico’s Antonio Margarito in what would be a massive rematch. But can Cotto get past Mayorga? The Puerto Rican star will be returning to action after having had a layoff of nine months, and some people say he has never been the same since being brutalised by “Tony” in 2008 anyway. Mayorga, though he too has been far from active recently, might just have the crazy style to be able to give Cotto real problems.
I pick Cotto to win, possibly by late stoppage, but Mayorga won’t go quietly. But will the lion’s share of the fans be watching this fight on March 12th; or will they opt to tune into the middleweight champion’s next defence instead?