Opening Bell: Sergio Martinez vs Miguel Cotto June 7 at MSG
Sergio Martinez photo by Anna John for StiffJab.com
by Gautham Nagesh
You’ve read this elsewhere, but we don’t like to report that a fight will happen until the contracts are signed. Because even then, it’s at best 70-30 that the fight will actually happen. But it looks like New York fight fans have reason to celebrate, thanks to the latest news from Top Rank.
Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez (above) will defend his title on June 7th at Madison Square Garden against Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto. Martinez has looked a bit old of late, but he remains one of the sport’s proudest and most gallant champions. Cotto will be the underdog, but also the overwhelming crowd favorite. Let there be no doubt: New York loves Miguel Cotto. If the fight is close, that could be the difference.[[MORE]]
I was in the crowd for Cotto’s rematch against Antonio Margarito in December 2011. The crowd’s fervor and bloodthirst made it feel more like a ritual sacrifice, vengeance for Margarito’s presumed treachery in their first fight. Unlike Margarito, Martinez is hard to hate, but I still don’t expect more than a small section of Argentine fans to be cheering for Maravilla. Still, we expect that even a faded Sergio would get the better of the smaller and also shopworn Cotto.
Check back here closer to fight week for full coverage.
Omar Figueroa Out, Linares-Arakawa Now On PPV: We learned last week that exciting Texas lightweight Omar Figueroa Jr. withdrew from his fight against Ricardo Alvarez on Saturday’s Showtime Pay Per View card due to injury. On Monday, we found out the replacement will be another lightweight scrap between Nihito Arakawa and Jorge Linares.
Figueroa is already one of our favorites to watch, but this match-up could be a sleeper for fight of the night. Both Arakawa and Linares have been involved in wars, the former against Figueroa in his last fight. The winner could be looking at another big fight at lightweight, possibly against Figueroa. The loser will be viewed as a borderline journeyman. Regardless, the swap only dims slightly what we expect to be the best Pay Per View card of the spring.
Luis Collazo Signs With Al Haymon: Another day, another contender signs with the sport’s top power broker Al Haymon. This time it’s Brooklyn welterweight Luis Collazo, who is coming off a stunning first-round knockout of Victor Ortiz in his backyard in January. Collazo has won four fights in a row, three at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and appears well-positioned as a regular attraction at that venue.
Signing with Haymon means Collazo will get a shot at one of the better fighters in the welterweight division. Haymon’s stable includes a who’s who at 147 lbs., including Shawn Porter, Devon Alexander, Keith Thurman, Marcos Maidana, Adrien Broner, Paulie Malignaggi and of course, pound-for-pound kingpin Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“I’m looking forward to a big year ahead and signing with Team Haymon is just one of the first steps,” Collazo in a release. “He works with a lot of guys in my division and with this new step in the right direction, I’m sure I will be fighting some of them in the near future.”
To be sure, Collazo didn’t sign with Haymon just to get a shot at Thurman or Porter. Instead, he’s eyeing the same prize as everyone else in the sport.
“God-willing I’ll get the chance to be in the ring against Mayweather and prove what I’ve always thought, that I’m the best in the world,” Collazo said.
Chris Weidman vs. Lyoto Machida at UFC 173: The Nevada State Athletic Commission voted last week to ban testosterone replacement therapy, closing a loophole for fighters that may have previously used performance enhancing drugs. The fallout was immediate: Vitor Belfort, who was scheduled to challenge middleweight champ Chris Weidman at UFC 173, has pulled out of the fight and acknowledged it may take him a while to get licensed again in Nevada.
Into the breach steps Lyoto Machida, a terrific striker and friend of former middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Machida hasn’t lost since moving down from light heavyweight, meaning things won’t be getting any easier for Weidman after he beat Silva twice to cement his supremacy at middleweight. Doc Octagon will weigh in with his take on the match-up closer to the May 24 show.