COTTO SHOWING STAR POTENTIAL.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES

Miguel Cotto was supposed to be facing a stern test when he took on fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Quintana last Dec. 2 in Atlantic City.

Quintana was undefeated at 23-0. At 5-foot-9 1/2, he was 2 1/2 inches taller than Cotto. Quintana also had a five-inch reach advantage, was a southpaw and had been a welterweight his entire career. Cotto was moving up from junior welterweight.

Quintana was decked twice in the fifth round and could not answer the bell for the sixth, having been taken apart by Cotto in vicious fashion. Cotto won the vacant World Boxing Association welterweight title, and the stoppage gave the former junior welterweight champion an 8-0 record with seven knockouts in championship fights.

It also made a true believer out of his promoter, Bob Arum, who has 40 years in this game. Arum believes Cotto is one of the most damaging punchers the sport has seen.

"Punching power could be the ability to take out an opponent with one punch, like Tyson had," said Arum, who will promote Cotto's title defense against Oktay Urkal next Saturday (on HBO) at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. "Punching power could be based on an accumulation of punches, a relentless attack of hurting his opponent as he attacks him, and breaking him down.

"And I think that Miguel will go down in boxing history in that second category as among the best that ever fought. He's skilled, has fast hands, but it's his relentless attack that never, never stops in hurting his opponent."

There is no question that Cotto is scary. He works the body as dynamically as he batters the head. He's one of those fighters who can make even the most courageous opponent cringe while pondering the punishment that is sure to be forthcoming.

But getting Cotto to brag a bit is about as difficult as weathering one of his tremendous left hooks.

"I just do what I do," Cotto, 26, said Wednesday from Puerto Rico. "I come to fight, I come to win. That's what I think about, winning.

I leave it to the fans, to the press, to everyone that knows boxing, to decide what they think of my career."

This is just the attitude that Arum believes will help propel Cotto (28-0, 23 KOs) to the top of every respectable pound-for-pound poll. Not only is Cotto physically gifted, he's humble.

"He's looked upon as one of the top fighters in boxing and rightly so and it is our hope that in the next year or so he will be recognized as the very best," Arum said. "He is a very hard-working young man and he gives a lot to the sport.

"But that's so much a part of the battle today, to get a young man to not get ahead of himself and not start proclaiming that he is the best, that he can beat everybody, and just let it come. Like the great ones did, like (Marvin) Hagler and (Sugar Ray) Leonard. They didn't claim to the rafters that they were the best, they proved that they were the best."

Provided Cotto gets past the 37-year-old Urkal (38-3, 12 KOs) - and that should not be a problem - he has already signed to defend his belt against former welterweight champion Zab Judah on June 9 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Judah, of Brooklyn, has not fought since last April 8 in Las Vegas when he lost his International Boxing Federation belt to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via a lopsided decision. Judah touched off a brawl during the 10th round of the fight when he fouled Mayweather with a low blow and a rabbit punch. Judah was fined and had his license revoked by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

It's no surprise that Judah is already talking trash. He has predicted he will knock out Cotto in five rounds.

"All I can tell you is that throughout his career, Zab Judah has always been a big talker," Cotto said. "But if you see the actions in the ring, he has not always been able to back up those words."

Judah is 34-4 with 25 knockouts, but he has lost the two biggest fights of his career - against Mayweather and Kostya Tszyu (TKO, second round).

Goossen's counter-suit baffles Arum

Bob Arum said he was stunned this week when he discovered that fellow promoter Dan Goossen had agreed to pay Antonio Margarito several hundred thousand dollars above the amount he was entitled to from a purse bid of slightly more than $1.5 million.

Goossen, president of Goossen Tutor Promotions, won the right to promote a fight between World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Margarito and Paul "The Punisher" Williams, the mandatory challenger. Goossen's winning purse bid called for an 80-20 split in favor of Margarito, as per WBO rules.

The purse bid was conducted by the WBO and any licensed promoter was free to participate. But Arum, who promotes Margarito, said he was told by Margarito's camp that it had no intention of fighting Williams, so that he need not bother.

Arum said Margarito had no business signing to fight anyone without his permission because he has an exclusive promotional agreement with the fighter. Arum is suing Goossen, Margarito and his co-managers Sergio Diaz and Francisco Espinosa in Nevada.

His suit was filed first. The WBO then said it would not sanction Margarito-Williams until after that lawsuit had been settled.

That's when Goossen filed a counter suit in Puerto Rico against Arum and the Puerto Rico-based WBO.

Both sides are claiming tortious interference. Arum said a revelation Tuesday in court in Puerto Rico sealed Goossen's fate.

"When he (Goossen) signed Margarito, it was for the amount that Margarito was entitled to under the purse bid, and he paid Margarito $395,000 above the amount that he bid," Arum said. "You can't do that. I mean, that's clearly tortiously interfering with our contract.

"And Goossen admitted it in court papers. Admitted it. I mean, that is shocking. That blows him away, blows him out of court. He didn't win this fight on a purse bid. He won this fight by negotiating with my fighter and paying him $395,000 above the amount that he bid."

Goossen, in a phone conversation, did not deny the extra payment. He said he did nothing wrong, and that it won't have a bearing on either lawsuit.

"Many a purse bid have come up with extra terms laid into it," Goossen said. "Especially if you want complete support in promoting the event. We are the ones who disclosed it (in court papers) because we have nothing to hide. I have a major promotion we are running and this payment is for the fight only under the rules of the WBO, and I needed full participation because it is such a big event.

"From that end of it, it doesn't interfere with whatever document Bob may have (with Margarito) because the rights to this fight are mine."

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) Miguel Cotto celebrates a victory against Paul Malignaggi for the WBO junior welterweight title in June 2006 in New York.

Nick Laham/Getty Images

(2) ARUM

Box:

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