Cotto vs. Clottey officially set for June 13!

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum held a press conference in New York City earlier this week to officially announce the welterweight title unification fight between WBO champion Miguel Cotto and IBF titlist Joshua Clottey. The fight will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade and will be televised live on HBO. The timing and location of this contest has become a traditional right of passage for Cotto, the Puerto Rican superstar who has fought at Madison Square Garden on the weekend of this holiday for four of the last five years.

In terms of the significance of this fight, it is highly significant for all of the fights that take place at 147lbs as well as for the fighters who campaign in that weight class. The winner of the Cotto vs. Clottey will cement his status as the number one contender for welterweight champion Shane Mosley. What makes this fight so interesting is that it could turn out to be a good fight with some fireworks. Clottey, who is more or less the dark horse of the welterweight division as Winky Wright was for many years at super welterweight, does not come easy for anybody he fights. Ever since his close unanimous decision loss to then WBO champion Antonio Margarito in December of 2006, Clottey has been on a nice winning streak that includes wins over Zab Judah and the late Diego Corrales.

Whether or not Cotto has recovered from the potential physical damage of the knockout loss to Margarito last summer remains unknown, as his last fight against Michael Jennings failed to answer those questions. Jennings put up very little resistance and was finished in that fight from a competitive stand point the moment Cotto laid hands on him. We still don't know the aftermath of the punishment Cotto took from Margarito. Regardless of whether or not Margarito's gloves were loaded with an illegal substance, Cotto still took physical punishment. Physical damage, whether it is the product of illegal wraps or legally wrapped fists, can not be reversed. Meldrick Taylor never took a punch quite the same way again after his classic encounter with Julio Cesar Chavez in 1990, a fight in which Chavez came from behind to stop Taylor with two seconds remaining in contest.

There are questions to be answered on June 13, and boxing fans just might have some fun as they get those answers when these two top welterweights meet each other in the ring at Madison Square Garden.