By Chris Williams: Gaby Penagaricano, the advisor for WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, told RingTV writer Lem Sattersfield that they have been in discussions with both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao’s management about fights.
However, nothing is definite at this point with either fighter and it appears that Cotto is a possible backup plan for both of them in case they’re not able to make a fight with each other.
Penagaricano says that Team Cotto hasn’t gotten to the point where they’re talking about specifics with either Pacquiao or Mayweather’s management. They’re currently in a holding pattern until it’s learned whether the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight is officially off or on.
It makes sense because Arum is going through all the trouble of having the 40,000 seat outside arena build on the Las Vegas strip and that’s not being done for a Cotto-Pacquiao fight, because that bout wouldn’t draw enough fans to fill that huge arena.
Arum isn’t going to waste money on that just to have Cotto and Pacquiao fill half of it. By the way, Steve Kim of Maxboxing.com has little good to say about the outside 40,000 seat outdoor arena, noting that there aren’t any concessions and the bathrooms are going to be port-a-potties. It looks like Arum is nickel and diming the arena, looking for ways of saving money. Sounds like it’ll be a nightmare of they bring in 40,000 for a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight. Picture long lines for the port-a-potties and other complaints about the place.
Penagaricano told RingTV “Yes, my opinion is that yes, from their perspective, I think that they both have Miguel Cotto as an option for sure. So we have discussed the possibility of a fight, but only in generalities as of today.”
It would be great if Mayweather is able to scoop up Cotto before Pacquiao if the two can’t agree to a fight. I think that would have Arum hopping mad because it would take away his likely back up plan for Pacquiao while at the same time having Cotto potentially dealing with rival Golden Boy Promotions.
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