By Ryan Burton
BoxingScene.com was advised by Top Rank's CEO, Bob Arum, that WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto may move up to 160 pounds and face Julio Cesar Chavez in September.
There are a few different factors at work here. First is that Cotto was supposed to face Antonio Margarito in July but Margarito has yet to be cleared to begin sparring. For that reason the fight has been pushed back to September but there is still no guarantee that Margarito will be ready by then. He is still recovering from the beating he took at the hands of Manny Pacquiao this past November.
Another factor is that Chavez Jr. has to win his fight versus Zbik on June 4th for any of this to be possible. The lure and draw of the fight besides the rivalry between Puerto Rico and Mexico is the fact that Cotto would be looking to become the first Puerto Rican to hold a title in 4 different weight classes.
Both Cotto and Chavez Jr. are in Las Vegas for the Manny Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight and are also discussing the possibilities of facing each other in the ring.
Arum told BoxingScene that they have scheduled an appointment for Margarito to see an eye doctor next Wednesday. "We have Margarito scheduled to see an eye doctor next Wednesday. We have to wait an see what the doctor says but so far the reports we have heard about Margarito's eye aren't very good."
Arum went on to say that it isn't fair to keep Cotto waiting for Margartio so they view Chavez Jr. as a viable plan B assuming he defeats Zbik next month.
"Cotto will have an opportunity to be the first Puerto Rican to win a title in 4 different weight classes. He has no problem moving up to 160 for Chavez. He said if he can't fight Margarito he would like to fight Chavez."
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