Cotto to return 13th December

cotto644By 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. 

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Rubio wants Cotto to fight him or vacate his title

cotto75By Allan Fox: After beating Domenico Spada last April to win the interim WBC middleweight title, Marco Antonio Rubio (59-6-1, 51 KOs) now wants a title shot against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs), but it’s not looking too good for Rubio that he’s going to be getting one.

Cotto is looking for big money fights, and his WBC 160 pound title is now more of a status thing for him than something he plans on defending or using in a unificaition fight. Rubio wants Cotto to either give him a fight or give up the title so that he can fight for it.

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Arum prefers Cotto to fight Canelo, and not Golovkin

canelo788By Dan Ambrose: Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says the ultimate decision on who WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) wants to fight in his next couple of bouts is going to be made by him.

Arum isn’t bashful in saying that he wants Cotto to fight Mexican star Saul “Canelo” Alvarez next year rather than WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. Arum sees the Canelo-Cotto fight as being the better match for Cotto than a Cotto-Golovkin fight. To Arum, it comes to the most reward that his fighter Cotto can get based on the risk.

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Chavez Jr vs. Cotto: A fight not likely to happen

chavez01By Chris Williams: Julio Cesar Chavez Sr said over the weekend that his son Julio Cesar Chavez Jr was interested in facing WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in a fight at 160 for this December in New York.

Chavez Sr said that negotiations would be starting this week for a fight between them, according to Univision Deportes. However, it’s not a realistic fight that can happen because of Chavez Jr not having fought at 160 for the past two years.

Chavez Jr that for a big fight such as Cotto, he would get back down to 160, but it’s still hard to imagine that he’ll be able to make weight. Unless Cotto includes a huge weight penalty for Chavez Jr in case he comes in over the weight limit, which is very likely, we could see Chavez Jr miss the 160 pound weight by a wide margin.

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Rafael doubts Roach will give Cotto the green light to fight Golovkin

roach6777By Chris Williams: Dan Rafael of ESPN believes that WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach, who was at the fight last Saturday night to scout out WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin as a potential opponent for Cotto, will go back to Cotto and tell him that it’s a great idea for him to fight Golovkin next in December.

Indeed, Rafael sees Roach choosing not to give Cotto the go ahead to take the fight with Golovkin due to the danger involved for him. It’s one thing Cotto beating up on a nearly 40-year-old man coming off of a 14 month layoff and 2 knee surgeries in Sergio Martinez, and it’s quite a different thing for Cotto to fight a live opponent in his prime in Golovkin.

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Roach says Canelo, Golovkin or Chavez Jr is Cotto’s possible next opponent

roachBy Dan Ambrose: Trainer Freddie Roach still isn’t willing to display his cards about how he plans on telling his fighter WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) to fight next in December. Roach went on a scouting run last night at Madison Square Garden in New York to watch WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s fight against Daniel Geale.

Roach had seen Golovkin on video, but he wanted to see him live in order to get a better estimation of his power and to hear the sound of his punches.

Roach had previously mentioned Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s name as a potential opponent for Cotto to fight in December, but a new name is former WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He hadn’t been talking about the much, much bigger Chavez Jr as a potential opponent for Cotto, perhaps due to Chavez Jr’s 6’1”, 190+ frame.

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Will Cotto or Canelo fight Golovkin next?

golovkin45By Cameron Gillon: Last night at Madison Square Garden in New York City America, power punching Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs) made short work of Australia’s Daniel Geale (30-3, 16 KOs) to retain his WBA and IBO middleweight world titles in a 3rd round knockout. I myself made a prediction of a 8th or 9th round KO for Golovkin.

I don’t think many thought he would win the fight that quickly as some thought that Geale was a bit of a step up to the type of opposition Golovkin has faced, but it’s not 16 fights in a row that Gennady Golovkin has won by the way of knockout or a referee stopping the fight taking the run all the way back to 2009. Straight after the win Golovkin was interviews by HBO commentator Max Kellerman and when asked who he would like to face next, he said he would like a unification fight against the other champions in Peter Quillin, Sam Soliman or Miguel Cotto but the name that stood out was Cotto.

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Golovkin: I want Cotto next!

golovkin1By Chris Williams: WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (30-0, 27 KO’s) called out WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) tonight after Golovin’s 3rd round destruction of his 17th knockout victim Daniel Geale (30-3, 16 KOs) at Madison Square Garden, in New York.

After depositing a bleeding and beaten Geale on the canvas in the 3rd round courtesy of a fight hand to the head, Golovkin told Max Kellerman of HBO “Miguel Cotto. I respect his style. This is big event for boxing. I want unification fight. A lot of champions Miguel Cotto, Peter Quillin.”

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Geale would still beat Cotto

gealeBy Bob Smith: I honestly felt bad for Daniel Geale when he decided to take the fight with Golovkin – this is the first time he would appear on the biggest of possible stages (with the exception of the MGM Grand) and he would not be given the credit he deserves as a fighter due to being obliterated by Golovkin.

I actually thought Geale would do better, and use movement to frustrate and tag Golovkin, which he did his best to do, but Golovkin got his KO in the 3rd round instead of the 8th or 9th as I expected.

How did Daniel Geale get knocked out so quickly? Well, the simple fact is that Golovkin packs heavyweight punching power in the middleweight division. It is worthwhile to let that fact sink in – so when there is an exchange and he gets tagged and Golovkin comes back with a fast counter, this is what happens. Again, I suspected that Daniel Geale would try to engage Golovkin at times, but even I didn’t expect the fight to end so quickly.

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Golovkin a potential opponent for Cotto in December

golovkin6666(Photo credit: Will Hart/HBO) By Dan Ambrose: WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (29-0, 26 KOs) has a lot on the line tonight in his fight against Daniel Geale (30-2, 16 KO’s). There’s a potential huge pay-per-view fight against WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) that could take place next December on HBO if Golovkin looks good in dealing with the Australian Geale.

Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach will be at tonight’s fight at MSG, getting a good look at Golovkin first hand to decide whether he’s good enough to put in the ring with Cotto. Roach has a lot of sway over Cotto, and it’s quite possible he could talk him into facing Golovkin next if Roach likes what he sees of him. Roach can also talk Cotto out of talking the fight if he feels that he’s all wrong for him.

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