MANILA, Philippines – Miguel Cotto can play hard to get and be rich in the end.
There?s a tug-of-war over the wide-bodied Puerto Rican who said he?s open to fighting either Floyd Mayweather Jr. on May 5 or Manny Pacquiao on June 9.
But he said either fight should happen at the right weight.
Cotto is the WBA junior middleweight (154 lb) champion while Mayweather and Pacquiao are the WBC and WBA welterweight (147 lb) champions, respectively.
Cotto fought Pacquiao in 2009 at a catchweight of 145 lb but was pummeled for 12 rounds. He said he?d no longer drop down in weight to face Pacquiao.
?I will not sacrifice my body again for the benefit of another boxer,? he told www.boxingscene.com.
?He (Pacquiao) had no problems dealing with (Antonio) Margarito at 150. He hasn?t had problems with anyone regarding weight. With Joshua Clottey, they fought at 147. I drove down to 145,? said Cotto.
?The (rematch), I?m going to do it at my weight. I will not sacrifice my body again for the benefit of another boxer. It won?t happen at 147.?
It will surely benefit Pacquiao if Cotto agrees to face the fastest boxer today at 147, and for this reason it seems he?s more open to facing Mayweather at 150.
Mayweather can adjust better to a catchweight around 150 lb, and this is being seriously considered by Cotto, who can make $6 million to $10 million with either fight.
Pacquiao and Mayweather are supposed to be the ones fighting, as the whole world wants, but differences in the purse split are keeping them wide apart.
Reports said Mayweather has turned down a 50-50 split from Pacquiao, who himself has reportedly turned down a guaranteed purse of $40 million from Floyd.
Mayweather apparently is willing to give Pacquiao $40 million as long as the fighting congressman from Sarangani will not get anything from the pay-per-view sales.
Insiders say money shouldn?t be a problem here as long as both boxers agree because they can get as much as $75 million each in the end, again if they agree.
Radio talk in the United States say fight fans are willing to pay as much as $100 for pay-per-view if it?s Pacquiao vs Mayweather, and PPV sales alone can generate more than $200 million.
Additional revenue will come from live ticket sales, closed circuit TV, broadcast rights and merchandise.
Now, boxing?s two superstars going after Cotto because there may be no one else out there that could provide them the fight that will interest fight fans worldwide.
?We are waiting for the offer to come and dedicate ourselves to train and win. In the next two weeks we hope to get a response on the whole thing,? Cotto told www.boxingscene.com.
?With the correct preparation we would have no problem with anyone. This is not a deadline but we are waiting. I hope it will come. They say that money talks. We?ll see what happens,? Cotto added.
He can be the biggest winner here in the end.
