The boxing promotional war continues to escalate as Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions are bitterly battling over the opportunity to promote Miguel Cotto's next bout.
Cotto re-established himself as a boxing megastar with his third round TKO of Delvin Rodriguez on October 5th, and now his next opponent has been narrowed down to two possibilities; Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez, and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. What complicates matters is Cotto's status as a "free agent."
Cotto's had a long relationship with Arum and Top Rank, but Alvarez, who is promoted by Golden Boy, just finished participating in the most lucrative fight in boxing history on September 14th vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Bob Arum of Top Rank and Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy have stepped up their war of words recently. The escalation began when Arum intimated that Alvarez was also a free agent, prompting a swift and nasty response.
"The idiotic comments he's making about Canelo not being under contract," Schaefer said. "Canelo is under contract with Golden Boy and he is proud and happy to be under contract with us. Canelo will tell you himself and so will his managers. This guy [Arum] has totally lost it."
Schaefer then commented on Cotto's future, saying, "If he [Cotto] wants to make the most money he knows where to go. It's as simple as that. And Cotto is a young and smart guy so I know he's going to make the right decision for himself and his career."
Now, Schaefer has said he will meet with Cotto only if Top Rank is left out in the cold. "If Miguel Cotto wants to fight, no problem, but it will have to be without Top Rank."
Middleweight champion Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez is also widely reported to be in the mix to fight Cotto. Recently, though, Alvarez's adviser Eddy Reynoso said Canelo might fight Sergio instead. Reynoso told Esto "It will be a big fight, possibly against Cotto or Martinez of Argentina."
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