Miguel Cotto, the WBC middleweight champion, and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez are expected to square off this fall in the second-most anticipated boxing match of the year. Yet for all the big money this fight will generate, and the historic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico rivalry it will add to, an agreement has yet to be reached.
Golden Boy president Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Alvarez, is pointing the finger squarely at Cotto's manager, Gaby Penagaricano.
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"All we need is to negotiate one little point. Look Golden Boy's on board, Roc Nation Sports is on board, Canelo's on board, Cotto's on board, Vegas is on board. The only person we're waiting for is Gaby Penagaricano," De La Hoya said. That little point is a rematch clause, according to De La Hoya.
In May talks between the two sides broke down and they each went their separate ways; Alvarez went on to knock out James Kirkland in devastating fashion in a fight that may be the Fight of the Year, while Cotto delivered his own sensational knockout against former middleweight titlist Daniel Geale.
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While questions about how much Cotto wanted to face Alvarez cropped up in the spring, De La Hoya has no doubts now that Cotto wants this to happen.
"I know Cotto wants the fight, he's already training, same for Canelo, he's already training. He's ready to go. We're waiting for an answer from Gaby."
Penagaricano is denying that he is the sole reason for a holdup in talks, and said that De La Hoya is just posturing in the media to get his way. "The information supplied by my friend Oscar is false," Penagaricano said.
"We have come a long way and agreed to most of the issues related to this fight but there are still several important components that we have to agree on. I see no major impediment to this deal being reached. But to apply pressure through the press during the negotiations will have zero effect on Miguel Cotto and his team."
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