Miguel Cotto Rtrs 1
Miguel Cotto begins his media tour with Sergio Martinez on March 10 in Puerto Rico. Reuters

Just a week after coming to terms for a June 7 fight inside New York City’s Madison Square Garden, former three-division title winner Miguel Cotto and middleweight champ Sergio Martinez announced this week that each fighter and their respective camps will travel to four cities this March to promote the highly anticipated bout. Extremely pleased with the way things are shaping up, the 33-year-old Cotto -- who owns a 38-4 career record that includes 31 knockouts -- is looking forward to the showdown with Martinez and to helping promote the fight and the sport of boxing during the media tour.

“I feel very happy with this opportunity to fight again in my second home in New York in front of all the Puerto Ricans that have supported me all over my career,” he said. “It will be a huge honor to accomplish the goal of becoming the first Puerto Rican to become a world champion in a fourth division. Throughout my career I have always said that I will fight the best names in this business and Sergio Martinez is the best challenge, and on June 7 at Madison Square Garden, history will be made.”

The four-stop tour will begin on Monday, March 10, with both fighters paying a visit to Puerto Rico. Cotto and Martinez will then head to New York City on March 11 followed by trips to Los Angeles and Buenos Aires on the 12th and 13th respectively. Those near the event in Puerto Rico will be able to attend but the stop in Los Angeles will only be open to credentialed members of the media. In an attempt to open the NYC and Buenos Aires trips to the public, organizers continue to explore ways of making those stops as fan friendly as possible.

While the tour obviously serves as a great promotional event, Sergio Martinez will also use it to proclaim his status as the best fighter between the two. Confident in his abilities to upend Cotto -- who has earned titles at the welterweight, junior welterweight and junior middleweight levels -- the Argentine star says his next opponent shouldn’t overlook his array of talent.

“I've been asking for this fight for many years,” he said. “Cotto was saying in the past that why would he fight me if fighting me didn't generate money? He was saying this after the second Antonio Margarito fight, and I did not forget his disrespectful tone when he was discussing not fighting me. Now Cotto wants to fight me because he and his team think that going through me is the easiest route to make history. What Cotto will find out June 7 is that he will be punished and will be made to eat his words. I promise you that Miguel Cotto will be retired after I beat him.”

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