To Miguel Cotto, it makes perfect cents.
After all, the Puerto Rican star has been a pro for 14 years and he’s won legit title belts in four weight classes — a ring resume that many would argue entitles its possessor to call his own career shots.
And in that case, hearing the WBC middleweight champion claim he’d sooner abdicate his throne and meet Canelo Alvarez than fight a two-belt contemporary who happens to be his mandatory challenger — Gennady Golovkin — would be no big deal.
In fact, no less an expert than Randy Gordon suggests it’s a sound business plan.
?Cotto is no dummy. He can probably make more money fighting Alvarez than he can GGG,? the former New York State Athletic Commission chairman told CBSSports.com.
?Plus, he has a bit of a chance to beat Alvarez. He has no chance to beat GGG. I would still hunt for a Floyd Mayweather fight, but between Alvarez and Triple-G, it’s got to be Alvarez.?
Not surprisingly, it’s been far more future-focused chatter and far less fighter vs. fighter breakdown this week in Brooklyn, where Cotto will meet Daniel Geale in the first defense of his title Saturday night.
The fight will be broadcast by HBO beginning at 10:30 p.m.
It’s not as if Geale arrives without credentials. He was, after all, the IBO’s middleweight kingpin from 2007 to 2009 and the IBF’s title-holder from 2011 to 2013. But because he was dispatched in three one-sided rounds by Golovkin at Madison Square Garden last July, it’s hard to get too excited this time.
It doesn’t help that the fight will take place not at the traditional 160-pound middleweight limit, but instead at a contractually set 157-pound catch weight mandated by the Cotto camp. Cotto has never weighed more than 155 pounds in a 43-bout pro career, while Geale hasn’t been below 158 since 2007.
Being the A-side of a promotion, it seems, has its guideline-setting privileges.
Cotto last fought at a catch weight in 2009, when he was stopped in Round 12 by Manny Pacquiao while attempting to defend his WBO title at welterweight. That division’s weight limit is 147 pounds, but the camps agreed to meet at no more than 145 pounds apiece. Ironically, Pacquiao was trained for that fight by Freddie Roach, who joined Team Cotto in 2013 and will be in his corner Saturday night.
This time around, the rule-maker sees no issue with blurring the lines.
?I think that people are making a big issue where there does not need to be a big issue with catch weights,? Cotto said. ?Freddie, back in 2009, made me go down from 147 to 145.
?Did anyone hear anything about Miguel Cotto disagreeing with the catch weights? No, I was a gentleman the whole way. Catch weights were our main point to make this fight happen. Daniel and his team agreed to going down to 157 and I hope he can make weight on Friday.?
Presuming the fight occurs and the champion wins, the focus will quickly turn back to what’s next.
Though Golovkin has defended his IBO middleweight belt 11 times since 2011 and has stopped 20 straight opponents since 2008, Cotto and his backers insist the unbeaten Kazakhstan native hasn’t yet done enough to warrant sharing a pay-per-view marquee with someone on the Puerto Rican’s level.
Instead, Roach suggests a match with Alvarez — who’s never fought above 155 pounds and lost his most recent title match to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013 — would be a better use of Cotto’s time and talent.
One man’s duck, the trainer claims, is another’s golden goose.
?That’s the biggest fight out there,? Roach said. ?(Golovkin) still doesn’t bring enough to the table. He doesn’t sell any PPVs. So you’re fighting a tough guy for no money. It’s just business. You have your choice of fighting two guys and so forth — are you going to fight the guy who is going to make you more money? That’s the guy you’re usually going to go with. It’s risk and reward.?
