Cotto vs. Martinez 24/7 Episode 1 Recap
Miguel Cotto vs. Sergio Martinez 24-7 episode 1 begins with clips of both man, and talking about the challenge each man is facing, the kind of tests he puts himself up against, the impact it has on how they view themselves, and on their legacies. Neither man is a stranger to the pain or ruthlessness of the sport, we’re told, and neither one is yet content.Martinez vs. Cotto 24/7 begins with Team Cotto at the Wild Card Gym. Freddie Roach has had some Latin flavor in the gym as of late, along with some bright pink colors. It’s the second fight for Cotto with Roach, and it seems like an unlikely pairing.
That’s because they went up against each other when Cotto fought Manny Pacquiao, and Roach shared some choice words. Roach said that Cotto was the boss in his own camp, and that he was making mistakes, and nobody was there to correct him. Now Cotto says that he was right about that.
Roach has him using the left hook once again. And Cotto is actually having fun in camp, smiling and laughing. He fits in with the Wild Card crowd, and he’s happy to be there. Certainly, he’s having fun in the ring, too. In his first fight with Roach, Cotto just steamrolled Delvin Rodriguez. The dominance of that performance is what has him back to this position now.
This, of course, is a much larger fight. But Cotto is ready for even better returns. He is also regretful that he didn’t make the decision to move to Roach earlier in his career. He believes his career could have played out a bit differently.
Now, 24/7 Martinez vs. Cotto moves to Miami, and the training camp of Sergio Martinez. We see him hard at work to the gym, ready for his first fight in over a year. He believes Cotto was only willing to fight him after seeing his performance against Martin Murray.
What he didn’t tell the world was that he had already hurt his knee before the fight. He also had an ailing shoulder. His trainer said ideally the fight would have been cancelled, but Martinez didn’t see that as an option, not with 50,000 tickets sold in his native Argentina. From there, Martinez hurt his left hand.
Murray would send him down to the canvas, too. But Martinez says after the 10th round, a different fight begins. And it’s the fight of the heart. And he won that fight, to win the bout itself. It was all worth it for how great he felt after winning in his home country.
Martinez believes this version of him will be entirely different. He’s over that string of injuries, he says he is in his domain now, and very positive. He’s ready for a potential career best performance.
Next, we’re with Freddie Roach in Las Vegas, and he’s there to claim his trainer of the year award from the Boxing Writers Association of America. That means that Cotto is working without Roach for a day, so he’ll be working with Roach’s assistant Marvin, which isn’t a big deal.
It’s been nearly three decades of training for Roach, and he is especially enthusiastic about winning this specific award because it’s named for the man who trained him, Eddie Futch. Roach enjoys his time with his family, and he has the whole crowd gathered.
It’s back to Team Martinez. And we see him waking up in the morning, talking about how when he goes to sleep, he’s thinking about the fight. As soon as he wakes up, he’s thinking about the fight. He’s up well before dawn to get started with his training for the day.
Between the shoulder, hand and knee, he says he was at maybe 10 or 20 percent after the fight with Murray. He was on crutches for 7 months, and was first back in the gym in January. He says this was a very difficult period of him. But he says his desire was stronger than any physical pain or setback, and he’s back in shape.
After his morning cardio and strength training, he rests in his hotel in the afternoon before an evening boxing session. He and trainer Pablo Sarmiento are watching footage of Cotto. Watching the fights make the team confident, and Sarmiento knows, after all, that Sergio is not Delvin Rodriguez.
Cotto begins his day at 5 am too, getting started with his own strength and conditioning routine. They start cracking jokes about Cotto’s attire, and ahem, how the family jewels seem to be out and about a bit. Cotto is doing a lot of work in the pool as well, offering him a piece of training which allows his body to heal and feel better.
Cotto is seeking to become the first Puerto Rican boxer ever to become a champion in 4 divisions. That means alot to him, and that’s the main reason he opted to face Martinez.
Back in Miami, and Lou DiBella is in town to visit Martinez. He wants to make sure everything is good with Martinez and get a feel for how things are going. DiBella started working with Martinez way back in 2007 after he had been in obscurity, and he watched a fight DVD of him and knew Martinez could be a star.
Martinez says he’s loyal to Lou, because Lou was loyal to him, and gave him a chance when he was 33 years old. DiBella believes that Martinez is ready to kick some ass.
Martinez says it would be impossible for him to be better than he is right now. And that’s what Cotto is up against, Martinez at his best. Cotto says that he’ll be at his best shape, and he’s ready to accomplish this goal of his. Each man is ready for that test and that challenge.
Roach thinks Cotto will stop Martinez, break him down and then get him out of there. Cotto says June 7th will be the best night of his career. Martinez knows he’ll win by knockout, he’s absolutely convinced.
Of course, we all will have to wait until fight night to see who is actually right about this. We’re just a week away!
Thanks for checking out our recap of 24/7 Cotto vs. Martinez and keep on checking back with us all week long for more fight week updates!
