By Dan Ambrose: Former four division world champion Miguel Cotto and former IBF light welterweight champion Lamont Peterson are in negotiations for a fight on December 3, according to RingTV. The fight isn’t finalized but there’s a good possibility that it will be taking place. If it does get made, it’ll be the first fight for both guys in 2016.
Peterson hasn’t fought since winning a controversial 10 round majority decision over Felix Diaz last October, and Cotto has been out of the ring since his 12 round decision loss to Saul Canelo Alvarez last November.
Cotto had been reportedly interested in facing inactive 42-year-old Juan Manuel Marquez, who hasn’t fought in two years. Brandon Rios and Yuriorkis Gamboa are also names that Cotto has said to be interested in fighting. It’s unclear why Cotto is focusing on smaller fighters. Perhaps after his experience of fighting the much heavier looking Canelo, Cotto wanted to be the bigger guys for a change? It’s hard to know. But by taking on a fighter that just recently moved up from the 140lb division in 32-year-old Peterson, Cotto is definitely in a good position of winning the contest. Of course, if Cotto loses the fight, his boxing career is going to be going downhill quickly.
Cotto has been fighting just once a year for the most part for the last two years, and he doesn’t seem to be getting the full use of the last bit of his career by not fighting three times per year. Even if Cotto wants to select smaller fighters, he should still be more active than he’s been. You would think that a cash out fight against Gennady Golovkin would be a wise choice for Cotto or a rematch against Canelo if he can get a rehydration clause to keep him from rehydrating to the 180s. If Cotto wants smaller fighters, then he should fight Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia or Shawn Porter. At least that way the boxing fans would be a little more interested in his fights. Peterson is a poor choice because his last win over Felix Diaz was controversial and in his fight before that, he lost to Danny Garcia.