By Bill Emes

Lou DiBella, promoter of middleweight king Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28KOs), is willing to go above and beyond to secure a fight with five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26KOs). DiBella is confident that Mayweather will defeat WBA 154-pound champion Miguel Cotto on May 5th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. DiBella told BoxingScene.com that Martinez is willing to accept a financial split of 80-20 for a Mayweather fight, and Martinez would drop down to a catch-weight of 150-pounds.

"We would fight Floyd at 151. We would fight Floyd at 150 and [Martinez] would have to kill himself to make 150 and Floyd would be favored [to win] at 150. Cotto is a dead man at 154. Cotto is a half-shot. He's a great fighter, but he gets hit by everything. He incented Cotto to make a big money fight. It's very smart business. If he wants to handicap Sergio, we'll fight him as low as 150. And we'll give him 80% of the money. Mayweather can have 80% of the money and we'll fight him as low as 150. Let's do the fight, after he beats up Cotto," DiBella told BoxingScene.com.