By Mark Vester
WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto is beginning to make moves towards fighting the elite of his division. IN 2007, Top Rank head Bob Arum is hoping to stage four Cotto events. The first will be against mandatory title challenger, Oktay Urkal in March, and a slated unification showdown with WBO champion Antonio Margarito in June.
The inevitable plan of Top Rank is to stage a bout between Cotto and the current pound-for-pound WBC champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Mayweather has a May 5 date against Oscar De La Hoya for Oscar's WBC 154-pound title. Although Mayweather claims the De La Hoya bout will be his last fight prior to retirement, many insiders in the sport are betting that Mayweather will continue to fight.
When the question to Bob Arum on what would happen if Cotto was matched against Mayweather, Arum was quick to pick his stronger fighter. Arum told the Associated Press that Cotto's power will be too much for the smaller Mayweather to handle. Arum feels that Cotto's deadly bodyshots will break Mayweather.
"We think he`d break Mayweather in two," Arum said. "There is nobody in boxing who hits harder. It`s a lot harder to move the body than the head."
Cotto shares Arum's thought process. He feels that he can hang with the best that boxing has to offer. He is a very soft spoken fighter who admits that trash talking is not in his nature, he would much rather go in the ring and destroy his opponents with constant punishment.
"I don`t like to talk," said Cotto. "All the good boxers, I know I can fight with them, I know I can beat them. I have no doubts."
