Miguel Cotto is prepared to face the best Sergio Martinez

After an in-ring hiatus of more than a year, paired with a knee injury that required surgery, it's reasonable to think that Sergio Martinez's body may very well be too banged up and rusty. It's reasonable to think that Martinez may no longer be able to perform at the same level that he used to.

As far as Miguel Cotto is concerned though, he won’t be taking any chances when he challenges Martinez for the WBC World middleweight title on June 7 (June 8, PHL time) at Madison Square Garden.

The 33-year-old Cotto aims to carve his name into boxing history by being the first Puerto Rican to hold world titles in four weight divisions. Cotto together with his trainer Freddie Roach, made it clear that they've trained and prepared for the best version Sergio Martinez.

"We are having a great training camp. Miguel is working really hard and we have great sparring partners, some really awkward southpaws. Everything is right on schedule. Miguel is in great shape and I can’t wait for this fight to happen," said Roach. "We are going into the fight thinking Sergio is going to be the best that he can be and that’s the way it should be."

"I am just waking up every day trying to do my best in preparation so I am at my best for every opportunity that I have to fight," added Cotto. "I don’t worry about his style, I worry about getting ready for myself and for the way I fight. His concern should be how he is going to fight me."

Cotto previously won world titles at junior welterweight (140lbs), welterweight (147lbs) and junior middleweight (154lbs). The fight with Martinez is at middleweight, a contracted catchweight of 159 pounds. Cotto admits that it never crossed his mind before that he would fight as far up as the middleweight division, but quickly dismissed concerns of size and weight disadvantage.

"Freddie and Gavin [MacMillan] have given me the opportunity to work well with the weight. I don’t see that as an issue at all. I have put that out of my mind. I just work hard and get my work done," says the Caguas, Puerto Rico native. “I feel at 160, I don’t need to lose the weight. It’s not about gaining the weight, it is about not having to lose the weight, coming down and trying to cut weight. It is important to stay fit and do the things that I need to do and I think that my body recuperates better during training camp because I don’t have to lose the weight.

"I think it is about keeping what I have, not reducing it and keeping myself strong. Freddie has given us a plan, a strategy to follow and that’s what I have been working on in camp. I follow all the orders. Everything he needs from me I follow. All of my faith is with him. I do my best every time I go into training camp and this is no different."

The last time Cotto fought at the famed Madison Square Garden was in 2012 when he lost by unanimous decision against American southpaw, Austin Trout. Martinez possess a similar fighting style but it doesn't concern Roach, explaining that Martinez is only bigger, but not a better fighter. Roach, who has only been in Cotto's corner since his last fight against Delvin Rodriguez in October of last year, feels that Cotto is now an improved fighter.

"I think he knows how to control the ring a lot better now, we really work on that ring generalship. I wasn’t part of the Trout fight but I did see the fight," said the six-time BWAA Trainer of the Year. "I know Miguel can do a lot better and he has been showing that in training with the bigger, stronger sparring partners and we are more scientific about our approach to this fight and how to control the ring a lot better. I think he’s come a long way, this being our second fight together."

Whether Cotto wins and make history on June 7 or not, boxing observers are convinced that he belong on the list of Puerto Rican greats. The soft-spoken Cotto for his part, opted to handle the matter delicately.

"It is a personal matter. A personal achievement that I want to win and I am working for it on June 7. It doesn’t mean that I am going to be better than Wilfredo Gomez, better than Félix 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. I don’t want to be named, myself, as one of the elite boxers of Puerto Rico, that’s for the fans and for the people that know about boxing.

“I just want to do my job the best I can and I am going to do that the rest of my career." - AMD, GMA News


JM Siasat is a boxing journalist based in Manila, Philippines. He can be reached at jmsiasat@ymail.com. Follow him on Twitter @jmsiasat