By Edward Chaykovsky
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach credits Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31KOs) as being one of the hardest punchers that he ever worked with.
On June 7th at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Cotto will move up to the middleweight division to challenge WBC champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28KOs). Cotto wants to become the first boxer to capture world titles in four weight divisions. He already won titles at 140, 147 and 154. The fight with Martinez takes place at a catch-weight of 159, which is one-pound under the limit.
Martinez is the bigger man and established himself as the top middleweight in the sport, but Roach believes his boxer will be the guy to land the big power shots in the contest.
"Miguel is one of the hardest punchers I have worked with. We are working every day on the mitts with my body protector on and that doesn’t help that much any more – Miguel goes right through that. His punching power is great, his speed has been good and everything is right where I want it to be," Roach said.
"Miguel is one of the hardest workers I have been with and he is the most disciplined fighter I have ever worked with. We have a great relationship and it will show in the fight."
