Boxing News 2014: Sergio Martinez's Trainer Predicts Knockout Win Against Miguel Cotto

Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez will defend his World Boxing Council middleweight title against Miguel Cotto on June 7 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Martinez is coming off a long layoff after sustaining a left knee injury several days before his unanimous-decision victory against then-unbeaten Briton Martin Murray in April last year.

Martinez recently admitted that he hasn't been able to run since undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, adding that he was also advised to take a cautious approach in training camp to avoid hurting his knee again.

But despite the concerns about Martinez's health, his trainer, Gabriel Sarmiento, is convinced that Maravilla will successfully retain his middleweight world title.

In an interview with BoxingScene, Sarmiento expressed confidence that Martinez will easily defeat Cotto, insisting that the Argentinian can knock Cotto out even if Martinez's knee will still not be fully healed on fight night.

"We realize that issue of the injury, but we are confident that we'll arrive in the proper condition to fight," Sarmiento said. "Regardless, even if we're at 75 percent -- it's more than enough to knock Cotto out. Anyway, we know that we will be much better than that."

Like his trainer, Martinez is also not concern about how his knee will hold up in his upcoming showdown with the Puerto Rican boxer, who is aiming to become the first boxer from Puerto Rico to win four titles in as many divisions.

Martinez pointed out that he managed to score a win against Murray despite coming into the fight with an ailing knee, and he is confident that his knee's condition will not be a factor as well in his second title defense.

The 39-year-old Argentinian champion also vowed to give Cotto a beating, saying that he wants to make the Puerto Rican pay for his disrespectful acts.

Martinez was reportedly irked by Cotto's numerous demands during the negotiation for the fight.

"I just want to get into the ring with Cotto so I can give him a beating," Martinez said. "All of the demands and hoops that they made my team go through to make this fight happen have shown me how he is arrogant and doesn't respect me and my accomplishments."