Is Miguel Cotto (38-4, 21 KO) the most sought-after fighter in boxing after Floyd Mayweather?
Who will Miguel Cotto fight next? (Main pic courtesy of Top Rank)
It’s perhaps the biggest question in boxing at the moment.
Well, perhaps the second biggest (Floyd Mayweather).
A month ago, fight legend Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs), looking every bit 25 again, knocked out top 10 jr middleweight contender Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-3, 16 KOs) in Round 3 before a raucous crowd of 12,000 at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida.
Cotto’s showing was so impressive, his 2012 loses to Austin Trout and Floyd Mayweather are but a distant memory today.
Miguel Cotto is back – or so it seems.
Yesterday, the former three-division titleholder was offered a purse in excess of $10 Million to face rising star Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (41-1, 30 KO) on a potential March 8 Showtime PPV event.
“The main topic of discussion was a potential Canelo fight. I made him a very lucrative offer, eight figures…well in excess of $10 million dollars. He said he is going to let me know what he decides to do.”
“I told him it could be a one fight deal or a series of fights, whatever he wants to do,” Golden Boy’s Richard Schaefer told BoxingScene.com.
But that’s not all.
According to BoxingScene, Golden Boy Promotions is also making WBO Middleweight Champion Peter Quillin (30-0, 22 KO) available.
Perhaps that’s what Schaefer meant by “series of fights?”
Cotto’s purse would be quite a bit lower if the Puerto Rican accepted this match-up but Quillin owns a major world title and some believe Miguel would love nothing more than to become the first Puerto Rican to win four world titles in as many weight classes.
Moreover, a win over Quillin “may” give the Puerto Rican superstar a bit more leverage, financially, in a subsequent match-up against Canelo Alvarez or Sergio Martinez.
“If Miguel wants to fight for a middleweight title, and he wants to fight in New York, he can go and fight Peter Quillin……no problem. And by the way, he won’t have to go and split 50-50 with Sergio Martinez. That’s another possibility,” Schaefer told BoxingScene.com.
And, of course, as referenced by Golden Boy’s CEO, Miguel Cotto entered this week’s negotiations with RING/Lineal Middleweight Champion Sergio Martinez (51-2-2, 28KOs) already ‘on the table’ for June. Top Rank’s CEO, Bob Arum, indicated he is in favor of Martinez vs Cotto should the champion’s team be interested. In fact, until yesterday, Martinez vs Cotto was looking strong for June 7 in New York City on the Saturday before the Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Martinez’s manager, Sampson Lewkowicz, stated in early October, “If the sides want the fight, we can do this negotiation in one hour over a coffee. We don’t need a lunch to make this fight if everybody does it right.”
Canelo Alvarez, Sergio Martinez or Peter Quillin…
Who will win the Miguel Cotto Sweepstakes?
At the moment, Canelo appears to be the new frontrunner but don’t be surprised if Cotto faces more than one.
