"Junito" has taken things personal for the upcoming Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight on June 7th at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. The two men will be battling for both The Ring and WBC world middleweight titles.
Should Miguel Cotto win against Sergio Martinez, he will be making history by becoming the first Puerto Rican to win world titles in four different weight classes. This fact alone has made "Junito" turn the upcoming Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight into a more personal matter.
"It is a personal matter - a personal achievement that I want to win and I am working for it on [Saturday]," Cotto declared in a recent conference call.
"It doesn't mean that I am going to be better than Wilfredo Gomez, better than Felix Trinidad, better than all of the great champions that Puerto Rico has produced," he added. "But for me, Miguel, it will be the greatest accomplishment of my career."
While Miguel Cotto will be the one gunning for Sergio Martinez's title, "Junito's" name will be announced to the crowd after "Maravilla's", something that goes against boxing's tradition. Normally, champions are the ones whose names are announced last.
These were demands that Miguel Cotto's camp made during the pre-fight negotiations. This triggered "Maravilla" to be upset with "Junito's" entire camp, and went as far as calling his opponent a "diva."
"Junito", on the other hand, paid no attention to his adversary's comments and has remained dead focused on the upcoming Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez fight.
"If Sergio has any kind of issue with anything about this fight, he can discuss it with his [representatives]," Cotto retorted. "We closed the deal a long time ago, and now it is time to train, and we can't talk about anything else."
"I train for 12 rounds of war. If he only trains for seven or eight, he is going to be in trouble after that because I am prepared to go the whole distance and to do whatever it takes to win," he added.
