By Elisinio Castillo
Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach has a new fight in his sights, where two legends of the sport would collide at the tail-end of their storied careers.
Roach, who trains former four division world champion Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33KOs), is very interested in having his fighter take on Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7-1, 40KOs).
Marquez, 42-years-old, has been out of the ring since a May 2014 twelve round decision victory over Mike Alvarado. The boxer had planned several return dates, but he was never able to get them in place due to an ongoing issue with his knee.
Cotto was in the ring last November, when he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Roach has been thinking about the potential options for Cotto's return bout and views Marquez as a perfect opponent.
There is a lot of history between Marquez and Roach. The Mexican veteran fought Roach's top fighter, Manny Pacquiao, on four occasions. In their last fight, in the fall of 2012, Marquez knocked Pacquiao out in six rounds. Since the loss, Roach has been trying to get a fifth fight without success.
"I was thinking of opponents for Miguel Cotto down the line and I think [Marquez] would be a perfect [opponent]. That would be a great fight. When a Puerto Rican and a Mexican get together it's always great. I don't think he wants to fight Manny any more, maybe he's done that enough. But Miguel at the right weight, I think it could be a very interesting fight," Roach told reporter Bernardo Osuna.
The weight is the question. Roach says his fighter can still get down to 147-pounds. Cotto came in at 153.5 [below the junior middleweight limit] for two of his three middleweight fights. Marquez has never weighed higher than 144.5 for any of his welterweight fights.
