By Rick Reeno
WBA welterweight champ Miguel Cotto (28-0, 23 KOs) returns to his native Puerto Rico to make a mandatory defense of his title against veteran Oktay Urkal (38-3, 12 KOs) of Germany.
The fight will be nothing more than a showcase to build up Cotto's June 9 bout against Zab Judah, scheduled to take place in New York's Madison Square Garden. Urkal is good boxer who's seen better days. At 37-years-old, I'm not sure what he can possibly do to upset Cotto. Even if I turned back the clock by ten years when Urkal was in his prime and a much better fighter, I would not give him a shot at winning.
Most people think Urkal will provide some kind of a test because he gave Kostya Tszyu some tough moments almost six-years ago. As previously stated, the fight with Tszyu was six-years ago. In 2004, he lost back to back bouts to Vivian Harris at 140, and soon after he moved up in weight to beat four fighters that have no signicance in the welterweight division to somehow earn a mandatory shot at Cotto. I'm still scratching my head on that one.
Urkal was stopped once in his career by Harris when they met for the second time in 04. If Urkal is able to last twelve rounds with Cotto, who will be gunning all night for a knockout to please the hometown crowd, it will be a miracle from God.
In the co-feature, and the real feature of the show in the opinion of many, Edison Miranda (27-1, 24 KOs) of Colombia, takes on Allan Green (23-0, 16 KOs), of Oklahoma.
This fight is sure to have fireworks for as long as it lasts. They both have have grenades in their fists and love to score knockouts. Green is the bigger man, moving down to the contracted weight of 162-pounds to take the fight. It could be a mistake if the entire focus of training camp was to make the weight, or a smart move that could land him a huge payday if he beats Miranda.
Since both could punch and Miranda is the smaller man, it's hard to give either man the edge in power. One thing is for sure, Miranda has the edge in chin. Green has been rocked bad in the past, although by bigger men, but Miranda is a middleweight that punches like a light heavyweight.
On paper Miranda is the clear favorite, especially since Green is not the hardest guy in the world to hit clean, but then again - neither is Miranda.
Round by Round Coverage begins at 9:45 PM Eastern Standard Time . Round by Round Coverage is for Registered Users only. Registration is 100% FREE . To register, please CLICK HERE.
Registered users can CLICK HERE to join the live Round by Round Coverage.
