Miguel Cotto has been stuck in a boxing love triangle. Whom would he choose for his next? A March date against comebacking Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, or a fight later in the year against comebacking Middleweight champion, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez? Well, Cotto has apparently made his decision, and he seems set for a June 7th date against Martinez at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The details still have to be worked out for the Martinez vs. Cotto fight, but there doesn’t appear to be any major issues standing in the way. Both sides want the fight, HBO would be happy to have the fight and fork over plenty of cash (although it’s unclear if this would be an HBO pay-per-view or a World Championship Boxing telecast, the smart money is on a PPV), and it shouldn’t be difficult to pay Marco Antonio Rubio some step aside money to delay his mandatory title challenge.
Cotto announced his decision, after much speculation and back-and-forth, at a press conference in Puerto Rico. According to BoxingScene.com, here’s what Cotto had to say:
“I want to go with Martinez. The title is the main goal. We are only waiting on the confirmations from his team and if all goes well the fight will happen. The date is June 7 and I would rather fight where my historical roots are, Madison Square Garden.
“I believe that the fight with Canelo is premature right now. He is 23 years old and his name will be around.”
Martinez vs. Cotto at MSG will be a huge fight, and an intriguing and important match in each man’s career.
So what about Canelo Alvarez?
Canelo is now left without his top choice of an opponent for March. They reportedly made a $10 million offer to Cotto for their clash, so must feel pretty spurned that they weren’t able to come to terms on the deal. As Cotto mentioned, it wouldn’t be surprising to see that fight in the future, although you never know the directions the fighters will take now, particularly with Cotto having only so many fights left in him.
Erislandy Lara is out there, but that’s an awful stylistic match for Canelo, and I’d doubt his team puts that fight together, especially right now. Same goes for Demetrius Andrade, who has even less upside than Lara, as he’s not as well known and hasn’t been around as long.
There’s also James Kirkland, although Kirkland hasn’t yet built himself back up to a premier level. The winner of the Gabriel Rosado vs. Jermell Charlo fight on Jan 25th won’t have enough turnaround.
Carlos Molina has long called for a shot against Canelo, and he now has the allure of a title strap, so that could be a real possibility. Molina may even be the top choice to land a Canelo fight in March.
We’ll keep you posted with more updates on Martinez vs. Cotto, as well as Canelo’s next fight.
