By Chris Robinson

It looks as though WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto will be making his return to the ring this coming March 12th. The classy Puerto Rican banger showed that he still has plenty of ammunition left this past June when he upended Belarus’ Yuri Foreman, polishing off the soon-to-be rabbi with a crunching left hook to the liver.

Ever since that victory people have been dying to see what Cotto’s next move would be. While initial rumblings of a December tussle with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. began circulating, the fight would become an afterthought as different plans arose for the Caugus fighter.
  
Continue reading to get a better feel of what to expect from Cotto’s next move…

Most recent sighting

When it was announced that Cotto would be moving up in weight to face off with Yuri Foreman at Yankee Stadium, some wondered how he would cope with a bigger man who possessed deft movement and mobility. Cotto exceeded expectations, picking Foreman apart early and later taking advantage of his wounded prey as Foreman injured his right knee in the seventh round. The final left hand that left Foreman crumpled on the matt was vintage Cotto and a sign that he was far from finished as a fighter.

There have recently been four names floating around as potential foes for Miguel…

Vanes Martirosyan

Vanes Martirosyan is an undefeated junior middleweight from Armenia who now resides in Glendale, California. He is trained by Freddie Roach and is coming off of decision victories over Uganda’s Kassim ‘The Dream’ Ouma and fellow prospect Joe Greene.

When I asked Vanes about a possible Cotto fight he simply stated “I know him outside of the ring and he is a great guy. I think it would be a great fight. We got to sit down with Freddie and I am sure he has a great game plan for that fight. If that fight happens I know at the end of the night we would be victorious.”

Pawel Wolak

The ‘Raging Bull’ from Poland, Wolak is as crude in style as they come yet has found a way to carve out a 28-1 record with 18 knockouts with his lone loss being an August 2008 decision to hardnosed Ishe Smith is which his limitations were on display.

In his last fight Wolak was dropped in the first round by Jose Pinzon but regrouped to pull out a 7th round TKO. His pressing style would make a fight with Cotto interesting for as long as it lasts but there is an alarming disparity between the two men in terms of talent.

Rigoberto Alvarez

The 32-year old is the older brother of welterweight sensation Saul and two couldn’t be any more different in both style and appearance. Rigoberto is a bald-headed, sturdy southpaw who is very slow and plodding while showing a knack for mixing it up on the inside while Saul is redheaded and far for fluid with his offensive attack.

The most notable fight on his ledger is a ninth round TKO loss to Marco Antonio Rubio earlier this year and feeling here is that Cotto would be able to box circles around him.

Cornelius Bundrage

Definitely a late bloomer in the sport, the 37-year old is coming off of a 5th round stoppage over St. Louis’ Cory Spinks that netted him the IBF junior middleweight championship of the world. Prior to that Bundrage had pulled out victories of Kassim ‘The Dream’ Ouma and Chris ‘The Mechanic’ Smith while losing to the likes of Steve Forbes, Grady Brewer, Joel Julio and Sechew Powell in a wild eighteen-second contest.

Bundrage gained some notoriety for his appearance on the second season of The Contender but late into his thirties the man nicknamed ‘K-9’ is showing that he has more than just bark.

Rematch with Antonio Margarito

If successful in March, Cotto could be in line for a rematch with Tijuana’s Antonio Margarito this coming June in New York. In July of 2008 Margarito handed Cotto his first defeat as a professional as he stormed back from an early deficit to drop the undefeated star twice late in the fight as he carved up an 11th round TKO at the MGM Grand.

The loss was punishing and appeared to take something out of Cotto. The fact that Margarito was caught with illegal inserts in his hand wraps prior to his next fight with Shane Mosley makes some question the validity of the victory and Cotto would love nothing more than to extract some sweet revenge.

Sergio Martinez in September?

There had been some talks of a possible Cotto bout with middleweight champion Sergio Martinez sometime down the road and last week the Argentinean’s manager Sampson Lewkowicz confirmed to me that his meeting with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to discuss such a fight went smoothly.

If Cotto is victorious against Margarito this summer and Martinez remains unbeaten during his 2011 schedule, which could be filled with three HBO dates, then don’t be surprised if these two meet at a catch weight sometime in the fall.

Ishe Smith gives his take

Well-seasoned junior middleweight contender Ishe Smith always has his eyes on the division and was asked for his take on Cotto’s next fight. Smith is coming off of a grueling loss to prospect Fernando Guerrero in a fight that could have gone either way. Smith doesn’t see to feel that any of the mentioned names for March have what it takes to derail Cotto.

“No, I don’t think so,” Smith stated. “I think Bundrage deserves it. He is a hardworking guy. That’s a fight I would want to see. Vanes is another one I would want to see. To throw Pawel Wolak is like, come on? I fought Wolak on a four week notice and I beat the hell out of him. He just comes forward and Cotto plays with those kind of guys. Just like he did with Alfonso Gomez.”

Andre Berto’s trainer hints that Cotto is shot

Recently I caught up with Tony Morgan, trainer to WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, and discussed Cotto’s victory over Foreman. I asked Morgan if he felt that Cotto showed enough in that fight to convince him that he was fully back but the Winter Haven, Florida coach was pessimistic.

“I think he’s still damaged goods,” Morgan would state. “I think if you watch the fight closely against Yuri, there were hints when Yuri touched him that it looked like it rattled Miguel. Yuri truthfully, and I love Yuri and he’s a great kid, he couldn’t crack an egg. I think as long as they pick the right opponents they are going to put some money in his pocket. They need to keep him away from any type of puncher. As long as he’s in with a boxer I think he will be fine.”

Going in tough

During the lead up to Cotto’s November 2009 showdown with Manny Pacquiao, I discussed several aspects of the fight with esteemed boxing scribe Thomas Hauser. The New York author noted that whether win or lose, Cotto is the type of fighter that should be respected because of his willingness to constantly test himself.

“Miguel is willing to go in tough. I think Cotto has fought the tough fights. Cotto has fought Mosley, he has fought Margarito, and he has fought Zab Judah, which was a pretty hard fight. He doesn’t back down from a challenge.”

Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. An archive of his work can be found here, and he can be reached at Trimond@aol.com