After fighting throughout his amateur career and his entire six-year professional career as a junior welterweight, Cotto has had enough of squeezing himself down to 140 pounds. It’s an endeavor that has become harder and harder for the 26-year-old Puerto Rican star.

Miguel Cotto (27-0, 22 KOs) will make his 147-pound debut when he faces countryman Carlos Quintana (23-0, 18 KOs) for the welterweight title Hatton vacated tomorrow night (Showtime, 9 ET/PT) at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. During his 140-pound title reign, Cotto sometimes started slowly in fights. He was rocked by DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, who is not known as a big puncher. Ricardo Torres knocked Cotto down in their 2005 slugfest. Now in his new division, Cotto will focus on getting the job done without having to think about any weight issues affecting his performance.

An interesting subplot to this fight is the battle between Cotto and Quintana for the hearts of the Puerto Rican fans. Although both fighters will have their share of fans in the crowd, Cotto has emerged as the most popular fighter from Puerto Rico since the retirement of icon Felix Trinidad. Besides his popularity on the Island, Cotto has also found a loyal fan base among Puerto Ricans in New York, where he has fought regularly. Quintana is not nearly as well-known as Cotto in Puerto Rico, but that could all change with a victory.

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Cotto’s application for the gig was impressive as he moved up from junior welterweight and scored a fifth-round TKO of Puerto Rican countryman Carlos Quintana to win a vacant title. Quintana, who went down twice in the fifth round from brutal left hands to the body, didn’t answer the bell for the sixth round. Cotto’s performance was precise and brutal.

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The Players Association filed two unfair labor practice charges Friday against the NBA over issues with the new ball and the league’s crackdown on player complaints. The players have complained about the change in the ball from leather to microfiber composite, but the crackdown on complaints after the whistle, often referred to as a zero-tolerance policy, might be the bigger problem. The Union feels it was entitled to have input on both changes before they were put into play. The League is currently  reviewing what the Union has filed.

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Many people didn’t think the Utah Jazz(13-4) was going to have this great start in the 06/07 NBA season, but yesterday was not there night when they visited Kobe’s Lakers(10-5). It was completely a Kobe Show at Stapples after now being fully recovered from his knee surgery, he scored a season-high 52 points in the Los Angeles Lakers 132-102 rout of the Utah Jazz last night. Kobe had 30 points in the third quarter, tying his own team record set during a 62-point effort against Dallas on Dec. 20 last season. With Bryant hitting from all over the court, the Jazz began fouling him almost every time he was even threatening to shoot. Bryant finished 19-of-26 from the floor and 12-of-15 from the line. Bryant topped the 50-point plateau for the 12th time in his career.

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