Sergio Martinez Upbeat On Possible Showdown With Miguel Cotto On June 7th At Madison Square Garden

Reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion Sergio Martinez is excited to face Miguel Cotto in a showdown that could happen on June 7 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Martinez, who has not fought since his successful title defense against Martin Murray in April, said that one of his dreams as a boxer is to fill MSG. The 38-year-old Argentine believes that if the Cotto fight is finalized, that dream will become reality easily.

"They told me that I could fight Miguel Cotto on the 7th of June in New York and I think that it will happen. It think it will be a great fight," Martinez said in a statement via Boxingscene. "One of my big dreams is to fill the Garden, yes, Madison Square Garden in New York. And if I fight with Cotto, that dream will come true, because surely the Garden will be filled."

Aside from fulfilling his dream of fighting in a jam-packed MSG, Martinez is also looking to go 3-0 against Bob Arum's fighter. Cotto is not officially under contract with Top Rank Promotions, but Bob Arum is negotiating on behalf of the former Puerto Rican champion.

While he expressed respect to the famed Top Rank chief, Martinez boasted that Arum and his fighters have not done well against him -- referring to his upset win over Kelly Pavlik in the WBC and WBO middleweight title showdown in April 2010 and his victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in September 2012 that gave him the WBC middleweight title.

"Bob Arum has not done well against me, because first I beat Kelly Pavlik who was his boxer, and later on I beat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and I believe that not it's going to be Cotto. But it is also true that with Bob Arum it is always possible to negotiate very well," Martinez said in a separate Boxingscene interview.

The proposed Cotto-Martinez showdown has yet to be finalized, but Cotto already confirmed that Martinez will be his next opponent.

The 33-year-old Puerto Rican, who is coming off a third-round TKO win over Delvin Rodriguez in October, turned down a $10 million offer to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in March due to lack of time to prepare for the fight.