Miguel Cotto/Carlos Quintana In Nyc

Battle of undefeateds Miguel Cotto/Carlos Quintana on Dec. 2

Miguel Cotto and Carlos Quintana met the press this afternoon at Tavern on the Green in New York City in anticipation of their WBA welterweight showdown for Ricky Hatton‘s old 147-pound belt at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City on Saturday, Dec. 2.

Also on the card, the man no one wants to fight, Antonio Margarito (33-4, 1 NC, 24 KOs), will defend his WBO welterweight title against the WBO #5 contender, Ghanaian Joshua Clottey (30-1, 1 NC, 20 KOs).

At the top of the line Top Rank sponsored event, Cotto said, “My team and I are working very hard and are assured we’ll walk out of the ring with a new belt.”

In Cotto’s last bout, at Madison Square Garden in June, he defended his WBO junior welterweight crown against Brooklyn’s own Paulie Malignaggi. The gutsy but outclassed Malignaggi suffered a beatdown and needed surgery for the broken bones in his face after the fight, but as Quintana is quick to point out, I’m not Paulie Malignaggi. I’m stronger. I’m a better puncher. I’m a left-hander and superior in terms of boxing skills. I hope to do that to Miguel, instead of him doing that to me.”

“The difference between Malignaggi and myself, Quintana said, is I have fought against stronger boxers. So I can deal with that.”

Cotto (27-0, 22 KOs), who is moving up to 147, reminded Quintana (23-0, 18 KOs) and the assembled media that “Going up in weight is a new challenge for me, and one that I am ready to face at this point in my career.

There is a lot of expectation in Puerto Rico about this fight, not only because I will be fighting a fellow Puerto Rican, but because they want to see how I will do at 147 pounds.

When I punch, I punch hard. I’m going to Atlantic City to do my job. He (Quintana) moves pretty well in the ring, and I’m going to try to do something to catch him.

Quintana is a good boxer and it should be a good fight, but I will prepare very well just like I always do. I expect to walk out with the belt after the fight.

Quintana is hoping to do to Cotto what he did to Joel Julio in his last outing. This is the biggest opportunity of my career, Quintana said, and I will take full advantage of it.

“Already Cotto has been a champion. I have worked very hard in my life to achieve what I have. Nobody is going to take away from me what I deserve.”