Sergio Martinez’s advisor: Miguel Cotto fight ’97 percent done’

Feb

Sergio Martinez's advisor, Sampson Lewkowicz, is declaring THE RING and WBC middleweight champion's June 7 defense against Miguel Cotto to be "97 percent done" after having spoken to Cotto's advisor, Gaby Penagaricano, on Monday in Mexico City.

Lewkowicz informed RingTV.com late last month that Martinez had agreed to terms on his side, even as he still was awaiting Cotto's decision.

On Thursday of last week, Top Rank CEO Bob Arum told RingTV.com's Tim Smith that Cotto-Martinez was " going to happen," adding "as far as I’m concerned the fight is done, but (Martinez and Cotto's advisors) still have these little issues."

Lewkowicz said that he spoke directly to Penagaricano during a ceremony for the late Jose Sulaiman in Mexico City.

"I spoke very briefly with Gaby Penagaricano in Mexico City yesterday at the farewell of Mr. Jose Sulaiman, and he was very friendly," said Lewkowicz.

"He said that he believes that the fight, even though it is not official, he told me that 97 percent is done, and that nothing else can hurt it. In the words of Gaby, he told me that the other three percent can not damage the event."

A three-division titlewinner, Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs) is coming off a third-round knockout of Delvin Rodriguez last October. Cotto has fought at junior middleweight since 2010, and will be moving up to the middleweight division for the first time against Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KOs).

"We believe that this event, by far, will be the best event of the year as far as pay per view," said Lewkowicz. "Those were exactly the words of Gaby Penagaricano.

"By far, I strongly believe that that it [Cotto-Martinez] will surpass all of the expectations and anticipation for the fights in April and in May, that's for sure," Lewkowicz continued.

"I strongly believe that it will be the best event of the year on pay per view because it is much more interesting than (the Tim Bradley-Manny Pacquiao rematch and Floyd Mayweather's May 3 fight). That is my personal opinion, and, actually, I believe that is what many people think."