Miguel Cotto’s Top Rank contract expires, hoping to fight Chavez Jr., Mayweather, Pacquiao and Saul Alvarez in 2012

By Boxing News - 01/02/2012 - Comments

Image: Miguel Cotto's Top Rank contract expires, hoping to fight Chavez Jr., Mayweather, Pacquiao and Saul Alvarez in 2012By Dan Ambrose: WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto’s contract with Top Rank Promotions has reportedly expired as of December 31st, 2011 and now Cotto is officially a free agent. Cotto is reportedly interested in fighting the following guys: Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Saul Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

However, before anyone gets frothing at the mouth about this, the 31-year-old Cotto will still work with Top Rank in a fight by fight basis, which pretty means that Cotto will be destined to continue to tend garden against Bob Arum’s stable fighters. That might not be a bad thing if Arum puts him back in with his big money maker WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao for a rematch. Cotto was slaughtered by Pacquiao two years ago in a 12th round TKO loss, but he made a bundle of money in the process of losing. Cotto has been drooling over a rematch ever since but has been ignored largely due to how uncompetitive he was the last time he fought Pacquiao.

Arum has done his part in trying to rebuild Cotto by putting him in with a washed up 38-year-old Ricardo Mayorga, Yuri Foreman, who was sporting a bad right knee at the time Cotto fought him, and Antonio Margarito, coming off of three separate eye surgeries on his right eye. Like I said, Arum has done his part in trying to rebuild Cotto and keep him from getting smashed again.

If you notice, Arum didn’t put Cotto in with guys that might beat him like James Kirkland, Austin Trout, Vanes Martirosyan, Sergiy Dzinziruk, Alfredo Angulo, Erislandy Lara, Saul Alvarez, Paul Williams, Delvin Rodriguez or Cornelius Bundrage. No, Arum has been very, very careful in the matches that he’s put Cotto in. It’s worked because he hasn’t lost since the Pacquiao fight, and he could be the lucky one to get Pacquiao next in early 2012.

You can rule out fights against Mayweather Jr. and Saul Alvarez for Cotto. Those fights likely won’t be happening as long as Cotto’s still working with Top Rank in a fight by fight basis. But a fight against Chavez Jr. is a real possibility, as he fights for Top Rank and Arum is excited about making that fight. I think it might be dumb move by Cotto, because unless there’s a strength draining catchweight that can get Chavez Jr. down to a weight where Cotto has a good chance of beating him, Cotto could be fighting a guy that walks into the ring weighing 180lbs on fight night. That’s what Chavez Jr. weighed the night he beat Sebastian Zbik to capture the WBC middleweight title last year in June. Cotto will struggle against Chavez Jr., but the fight might not even be a possibility if Chavez Jr. gets torn apart by Marco Antonio Rubio next month in their fight on February 4th.

Most likely the guys that Cotto will and fight in 2012 are Pacquiao and Chavez Jr. Forget Mayweather and forget Alvarez. I do think Golden Boy would be up for putting Angulo or Kirkland in with Cotto, but don’t hold your breath waiting for Cotto or Arum to agree to those fights. Those guys can punch and Cotto might end up a bloody mess and taking knees left and right against those guys.



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