Miguel Cotto's former trainer Pedro Diaz believes the Puerto Rican champion is now capable of defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr. after showing improvements in his last two fights.
Cotto, the reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion, is still looking for an opponent for his next fight, but Diaz is confident that his former fighter can go toe-to-toe with the best boxers in the world today.
The 34-year-old Puerto Rican is coming off an impressive 10th-round knockout win against Sergio Martinez to win the WBC middleweight title in June last year, which was his second victory under trainer Freddie Roach. Based on what he saw from Cotto's previous fight, Diaz said that the Puerto Rican has improved a lot.
"I think Miguel is an extraordinary fighter. He's very talented," Roach told El Vocero via BoxingScene. "And now I think he has the best corner of the world. Freddie Roach is doing a great job. But Miguel is an extraordinary fighter."
Cotto, who has a 39-4 record with 32 knockout victories, was supposed to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Cinco de Mayo weekend, but negotiations for the fight did not come to fruition, forcing the Mexican to pick James Kirkland instead of waiting for Cotto to decide.
Following the announcement that the Cotto-Alvarez match will not happen in May, reports suggested that the Caguas, Puerto Rico native might end up facing Mayweather in a rematch.
Mayweather, who remains unbeaten in 47 professional fights, scored a unanimous decision against Cotto in their World Boxing Association welterweight title fight in May 2012. But if the rematch happens this year, Diaz believes Cotto is capable of handing Mayweather the first defeat of his illustrious boxing career.
"The first fight with Mayweather was a very exciting fight. And if he fights him now with Freddie in his corner - who also has a strong team - I think [Miguel] can achieve a superior performance he might even change the outcome of the first fight," Diaz said.
However, it remains to be seen whether or not Cotto and Mayweather will find themselves trading blows inside the ring against as the pound-for-pound king is still engaged in talks for the long-proposed super fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum recently told BoxingScene that he cannot see the Mayweather-Cotto rematch happening this year because Showtime will try to block that fight for financial reasons. Arum said that Showtime knows that they will lose a lot of money because both fighters are expected to ask for big paychecks.
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