By Miguel Rivera

Yoshihiro Kamegai views former four division world champion Miguel Cotto as the perfect opponent to catapult his career to the next level. 

Kamegai will face Cotto on August 26th, for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) junior middleweight title.

The contest will be televised live on HBO from Los Angeles, California. Kamegai (27-3-2, 24 KO) will be the first opponent for Cotto since November of 2015, when the Puerto Rican superstar lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.

Kamegai admits that he was very surprised when he received the opportunity to face Cotto.

He's a big fan of Cotto and followed his career for a long time. The contest will be the first fight of Cotto's new promotional agreement with Golden Boy Promotions. Kamegai is co-promoted by Golden Boy and Teiken Promotions of Japan.

"I'm a Cotto fan. I have seen him fight several times over the past 10 years and admire him, but once we get inside the ring it will be completely different and I will go in there to win the fight," Kamegai told Carlos Gonzalez.

"As a boxer at this stage of my career, I thought I would need two or three victories before facing the big names. This came up and at first it surprised me, but now I feel comfortable with the idea. Cotto is a big name. Fans who know boxing know that I do not give up, I fight with my heart and those will be my strengths."

"Having a belt recognized by the WBO would be fantastic, but for me to face a great boxer like Cotto is the motivation I need. Winning the title is like the sauce on top of the meat. I do not think Miguel thinks he chose an easy opponent, but he does know that he can win."