Boxing News 2014: Bob Arum Predicts Knockout Win for Miguel Cotto if Sergio Martinez Is Not 100 Percent Healthy
Top Rank Promotions chief Bob Arum said he believes that Miguel Cotto will emerge victorious against Sergio Martinez if the reigning WBC middleweight champion is not 100 percent healthy.
In an interview with BoxingScene, Arum said that the result of the upcoming showdown between Cotto and Martinez on Saturday at the Madison Square Garden will depend on how healthy the Argentine champion is.
Martinez has not fought since scoring a unanimous decision win over Martin Murray in April last year after undergoing knee surgery, and Arum said believes that Cotto is a much different fighter since he decided to train under Freddie Roach.
"A lot of it depends on Sergio's physical condition. Will he break down? Cotto is in the best shape that I've seen him. [Trainer] Freddie [Roach] has brought back a new Cotto, which is the old Cotto, a guy who's a vicious body puncher, has great stamina," Arum said.
The famed promoter then added that if Martinez is not yet 100 percent -- both mentally and physically -- Cotto will walk away as a champion via a knockout victory.
"I think you're going to see an unbelievable Cotto. Is that enough to beat Martinez who's been one of the great fighters of our era? I don't know. But if Martinez isn't 100 percent, Cotto will knock him out," Arum said.
Roach also recently predicted a knockout win for his fighter within the first four rounds of the match -- a prediction that did not sit well with the 39-year-old Buenos Aires, Argentina-native.
Martinez said that he will prove Roach wrong again similar to what he did when the Hall of Fame trainer predicted an easy win for Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. during their showdown in September 2012.
Martinez dethroned the then-unbeaten Chavez Jr. with a unanimous-decision win to claim the WBC middleweight title belt.
"Regardless of what Freddie Roach says, Cotto will get beat up on Saturday night. Freddie Roach is a joker and a big talker. He was saying how a cyclist cannot beat a world champion, and look at what happened with Chavez," Martinez said via BoxingScene. "He says Chavez only trained for five days for that fight, but that is not my fault: It is both Chavez and his team's fault. Freddie is a good trainer and a good business man, he knows how to sell a fight."
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