Saturday, March 3
(9:45 PM ET/6:45 PM PT)
Unbeaten welterweight champion Miguel Cotto's first WBA title defense is set for March 3 at the 10,000-seat Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico against mandatory German challenger Oktay Urkal. The bout will mark Cotto's first fight in Puerto Rico since his destruction of Gianluca Branco almost a year ago. Interestingly, this will be Cotto's first fight at the famed facility.
WBA welterweight champion Miguel Angel Cotto (28-0, 23 KO’s) Caguas, Puerto Rico. 26-years-old, 5’8”, 147 pounds, trained and managed by Evangelista Cotto.
Style: Cotto is a classic boxer-puncher with the emphasis on puncher, and with wickedest left hook to the body since Julio Cesar Chavez was separating opponent’s from their livers. He will come right at you, feinting and jabbing while always looking to pull the trigger on his dramatic left hook. When he is in full rhythm; Cotto will double up on the hook and also crack you with a nasty right hand upstairs.
Strength: Cotto has poise, talent and a tremendous left hook. He can jab, move and set you up to get extra leverage on that digging hook by leaning just a little to his left. In his last two fights prior to the victory over Malignaggi, against Kelson Pinto and Randall Bailey, Cotto displayed outstanding combinations and showed power in both hands. Look for short chopping right hands on the inside. While he might not have classic knockout power upstairs, if he hits you just right to the liver it is all over but the ten-count. Only five of Cotto’s fights have gone the distance and two of those bouts were four-rounders, when he was just starting his pro career.
Weakness: Cotto’s defense at best is just a little above average. His last several fight have all turned into wars and in the long run that makes for a short career. He was on the deck against Torres and he got caught by Corley, more than he needed to until the fight was eventually stopped. Cotto can be hit and he’s been buzzed a few times, however, he is so focused that he seemingly just powers himself through opponents.
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Challenger Oktay "Cassius" Urkal (38-3, 12 KO’s) Berlin, Germany. 37-years-old, 5’8 ½”, 147-pounds, trainer of record Jürgen Meyer & Ulli Wegner, manager Werner Lichtenberg.
Style: The southpaw Urkal is a veteran stand up boxer without a great deal of power and relies on his legs and his right hand to grind out wins. He has fought most of his eleven-year pro career in Europe and has held several belts during the time including both the 140 and 147-pound EBU (European) titles. Urkal has an extensive amateur background with 184 amateur victories along the way before capturing the silver medal for Germany at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Strength: The lefthander Urkal is a very effective counter puncher and he is at his best when you commit and he is able to score off of your mistakes. An experienced boxer, Urkal will use his legs to stay off the ropes and look to hook off his jab and score points the old fashion way-outboxing his opponent. Urkal can still pull the trigger on sharp three-punches combinations.
Weakness: At 37, the light-hitting German doesn’t have a lot of pop on his shots. Factor in that Urkal’s last two opponents had a combined record of 3-13-1, and you begin to understand that the German might be in for a short night of work in Puerto Rico.
Unbeaten Miguel Cotto defends his WBA welterweight crown in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Saturday night when he meets Germany's Oktay Urkal.
Also at stake is a big-money June payday.
Cotto (28-0, with 23 knockouts) has agreed to a June 9 title defence at New York's Madison Square Garden against former champion Zab Judah.
But he must defeat Urkal (38-3; 12 knockouts) to finalise his date with the US southpaw.
"Cotto is thinking it will be easy to beat me," Urkal said on Thursday. "Cotto will be surprised."
It will be the first defence of the crown Cotto won last December's when he beat Carlos Quintana for the vacant title.
It was Quintana's first defeat. He failed to answer the bell for round six.
Britain's Ricky Hatton had vacated the WBA throne by choosing the return to the junior welterweight ranks.
HBO2 playdates: March 4 (8:30 a.m., 4:30 PM) and 6 (11:30 PM). Times are ET/PT.
Miguel Cotto Vs. Oktay Urkal
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