Marquez Claims Cotto Changed Weight Terms, Creating Fallout

By Miguel Rivera

According to former four division world champion Juan Manuel Marquez, he was under the impression that a fight with Miguel Cotto would come together, but claims the Puerto Rican star changed the terms when it came to the catch-weight.

Cotto has been out of the ring since last November, when he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. He is scheduled to return to the ring on February 25th, against James Kirkland, at a catch-weight of 153-pounds.

For his part, Marquez - 43-years-old - has been out of the ring since May of 2014, when he won a twelve round decision over Mike Alvarado at The Forum in Los Angeles. Marquez is considering the possibility of retirement if he's not able to secure the right fight in the near future.

Marquez claims that Cotto initially said he was wiling to fight him at the welterweight limit of 147-pounds, but then wanted the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds. They haggled for a few weeks over the weight and then their talks fell apart completely after they were too far apart on the poundage. 

"There was talk of a fight against Miguel Cotto - who issued the challenge [to me]. Even [Cotto's trainer] Freddie Roach said that Cotto would fight me in the welterweight division and we liked the plan. But then they changed their minds and said they wanted it at 154 pounds and honestly that's too much weight and we are not to give him that kind of advantage," Marquez told Jaime Estrada.

Marquez is continuing to get his body together, after finally stabilizing a lingering knee injury which bothered him for the last two years.

"I trained and thank God the knee did not bother me. There was therapeutic treatment... with massages, even laser beams and magnetic rays and injections with a substance to lubricate [the area] so that it does not stick with the other bone that is around the knee and it was already half worn out, but in the end with all of the rehabilitation I already feel like a new me," Marquez said.

Cotto has a record of 40-5 and 33 knockouts, and Marquez is 56-7-1 and 40KO's.