After bashing Delvin Rodriguez in early October, Miguel Cotto became one of the most sought after names in boxing again. He has been chased heavily by both Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, who want Cotto to take on Sergio Martinez and Canelo Alvarez respectively.
Golden Boy has offered Cotto a ten-figure deal, that he appears to be leaning toward. However, nothing's been decided and the thought of a rematch with Manny Pacquiao may be creeping into Cotto's mind.
Pacquiao is coming off an impressive win over Brandon "Bam Bam" Rios, and Cotto surely represents a higher-profile fight than a rematch with Timothy Bradley, owing to Cotto's more fan-pleasing style. The problem? Cotto and Pacquiao have become friends since their first war, and Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach is saying the two men have little interest in marking each other's faces up again.
"I talked to Manny about this a little bit, actually, because Manny called me up and asked me if he could come and watch Miguel work out here at the Wild Card, and I said, 'of course you can.' Manny came to watch him work out, they're friends, they shook hands. Manny and Miguel will never fight," said Roach.
Roach continued, saying Pacquiao values friendship over even big-money prize fights. "I guarantee you that...Manny and Miguel are very good friends now. Manny came to watch Miguel work out. They've had their fight. It's over. Miguel's a 154 pounder and Manny's a 147 pounder. They're friends right now. Once Manny becomes a friend with somebody, he'll never fight them, that's just the way that he is. That's why I can guarantee you that they'll never fight."
That leaves Pacquiao staring at a Timothy Bradley rematch, or a fifth battle with Juan Manuel Marquez that "Dinamita" seems reluctant to agree to. As for Cotto, boxing waits with bated breath for him to put his John Hancock on a megafight with Alvarez.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.