By Gav Duthie: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has confirmed that Miguel Cotto will return to the ring on 13th December 2014. He has also stated that there is no chance that he will be fighting Canelo Alvarez on that date but will be chasing a showdown with the Mexican next spring.
This makes it highly likely that Cotto will face WBC mandatory challenger Marco Antonio Rubio 59-6-1 (51) or risk losing his title.
Cotto @ 160 lbs
Despite the Puerto Rican’s big win over Sergio Martinez there are still some question marks as to whether Cotto can be genuinely called a middleweight champion. He only scaled in at 156 versus Martinez so would likely be giving up a lot in size against genuine fighters in this weight category.
Canelo Alvarez
A win against Canelo would cement Cotto’s legacy as one of the greatest fighters of the current era. Fighting the mexican is the biggest fight, the best commercially and the most sensible ahead of facing the likes of Golovkin or even the awkward Quillin. From Canelo’s point of view Cotto is also his best option. Alvarez needs an opponent that will suit his style after the Lara fight and if he could beat Cotto this would be by far his greatest victory. As a result Cotto doesn’t really need the WBC middleweight title to make the fight happen. It could be a big risk for Cotto to fight @ 160 against a dangerous opponent like Rubio with a huge payday round the corner.
Marco Antonio Rubio
The 34 year old Rubio is a highly experienced fighter. The Mexican has never won a world title despite two attempts against Kelly Pavlik and Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr. He has fought his way back to a mandatory position with 6 straight wins since the Chavez fight including one over an aging Carlos Baldomir and an impressive 10th round stoppage over Domenico Spada. On the talent scale Rubio is nowhere near Cotto but he is a much bigger fighter, is very strong and has huge punching power with 51 knockouts from his 59 wins. Rubio started his career as a light middleweight and chalked up 16 knockouts in a row at one point early on. He is also undefeated at Super Middleweight having fought a handful of fights at 168 in the past so this is no easy challenge for Miguel.
I think that Cotto will fight and beat Rubio though and Canelo will get back on track against James Kirkland. If both come through their next fights unscathed then Cotto-Canelo could be the biggest fight of 2015 if Mayweather and Pacquaio don’t meet.
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