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Cotto to fight Branco in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican champion Miguel Cotto will make the fifth defense of his WBO junior welterweight title in San Juan on March 4.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:39 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
San Juan:
Puerto Rican champion Miguel Cotto will make the fifth defense of his WBO junior welterweight title in San Juan on March 4 in a 12-round bout against Gianluca Branco, his promoter said. Representatives of promoter Top Rank did not offer more details during a Wednesday press conference at the Hotel San Juan. Cotto, who has 25 wins with 21 knockouts, was scheduled to fight Branco (36-1-1 with 19 knockouts) last year, but the Italian fractured his right hand in training and was replaced by Columbian fighter Ricardo Torres. He knocked out Torres in the seventh round. "I know absolutely nothing about him (Branco). I've never known any of my previous 25 opponents and you have seen the results. So I feel very good,'' Cotto told reporters. Cotto's last fight in Puerto Rico was in February, when he stopped American DeMarcus Corley in fifth round. His trainer and uncle, Evangelista Cotto, confessed he does not know much about the Italian fighter and that he will concentrate on helping his nephew return to optimal physical condition for his sixth title defense. "From what I know about him (Branco), he's a magnificent fighter,'' the trainer said. "We know that this is going to be quite a difficult fight, but those are the challenges Miguel must meet so that in the future. He will be considered one of the greatest champions Puerto Rico has produced.'' Cotto won the World Boxing Organization belt on September 11, 2004, with the sixth-round technical knockout of Brazilian fighter Kelson Pinto. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
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