By Rick Reeno
When Yuri Foreman was a frontrunner to replace Floyd Mayweather Jr. as Manny Pacquiao's opponent for March 13, he thought it was too good to be true. It was. Once the Mayweather deal fell apart, Pacquiao passed on Foreman and finalized a deal to fight Joshua Clottey.
After the Pacquiao fight fell through, another opportunity quickly popped up. Former welterweight champion Miguel Cotto, the man Pacquiao knocked out last November, made a call to Top Rank to request a fight with Foreman for his WBA junior middleweight title.
Foreman doesn't see the logic behind Pacquiao's move to fight Clottey. There were members of Pacquiao's camp who were concerned with Foreman's physical dimensions. Boxing trainer Teddy Atlas told BoxingScene.com two weeks ago that Clottey is a bigger fighter than Foreman. No dispute, Foreman agrees with Atlas.
"When the whole Mayweather thing was going on, Freddie Roach said we want to fight Yuri. But then when it comes up, they really don't want to fight. I'm 5'11 and Oscar De La Hoya is 5'11. The same domensions. And if they are worried about my weight, Clottey who is going to fight Pacquiao, will probably be much heavier than me when he comes to fight Pacquiao," Foreman told BoxingScene.com.
Cotto took a lot of punishment in three of his last four ring appearances. And now he's moving up for his first fight at 154-pounds against an undefeated champion with a tricky style. Foreman might be catching Cotto at the right time.
"It doesn't surprise me that Cotto wants to fight. Cotto is a great champion. He wants to fight a good fighter and wants to fight for the title. I'm not surprised. I don't actually know how he feels [physically] but for me - I am going to be ready for Cotto. I'm going to be ready for Miguel Cotto at his best," Foreman said.
Maybe Cotto feels Foreman is a light-hitter. Only 8 knockouts in his 28 recorded wins. He doesn't think Cotto is overlooking his power, but if he is, Foreman plans to surprise him in the same way that he surprised Daniel Santos to capture the title last November.
"Probably right now they don't really underestimate my power but if they do underestimate my power they are in for a surprise. This is a tremendous opportunity to fight someone like Cotto, who is one of the top fighters pound for pound and to be in Madison Square Garden in the main event to showcase my skills. It's a great opportunity. I've been waiting for that and working hard for that. I hope the work pays off," Foreman said.
