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Freddie Roach believes he's already had the strategy in place to defeat reigning middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, but when he got a chance to have it executed in 2012, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr couldn't -- or wouldn't -- pull it off.
The Hall of Fame trainer gets another crack at the Argentine champ on June 7, when Miguel Cotto faces Martinez on HBO pay-per-view. Cotto, Roach believes, will do what Chavez did not:
"I had the game plan to beat him once before but my guy Chavez just didn't want to listen. He almost got him at the end but he just waited a little too long. ... I love this fight. I have the game plan for this fight and me and Cotto have talked about it."
The most significant difference between Cotto (38-4, 31 KO) and Chavez is size, as Chavez is a far bigger man, but the second-most significant difference between them is talent, and Cotto has that all over Junior. He's a better, smarter boxer, and he'll be facing a version of Martinez (51-2-2, 28 KO) who hasn't fought in a year due to some rather serious injuries, including a knee surgery.
Can Cotto do what Chavez didn't? Will he benefit from a potentially rusty and worn-out Martinez?