Former middleweight champion Miguel Cotto won't fight in 2016

Miguel Cotto has scrapped plans to fight in 2016 and will be back in the first part of 2017. Chris Farina/Top Rank

Dan Rafael
ESPN Senior Writer

Miguel Cotto the promoter has been busy with his promotional company signing young Puerto Rican boxing talent and making a foray into concert promoting.

Cotto the future Hall of Fame boxer has been a lot less busy.

At 35, Cotto is in the twilight of his career, during which he came out of the 2000 Olympics to become one of the sport’s biggest and most exciting stars as well as the first Puerto Rican fighter to win world titles in four weight divisions (junior welterweight, welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight).

In recent years, however, Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) has picked his spots to fight. He boxed only once in 2013 (following a 10-month layoff), once in 2014 (when he knocked out Sergio Martinez to win the middleweight crown) and twice in 2015, returning from a year layoff to stop Daniel Geale in a middleweight title defense and then losing a decision and the title to Canelo Alvarez in their huge fight in November 2015.
Miguel Cotto, left, hasn’t fought since losing his middleweight championship to Canelo Alvarez in November 2015. Al Bello/Getty Images
Since then there has been much discussion about Cotto’s next move. He and promoter Roc Nation Sports talked at length about a fight in the second half of this year. There were negotiations with Mexican star Juan Manuel Marquez, also a four-division titleholder, for a major pay-per-view fight, but Marquez is a smaller man and they could not agree on a catch weight acceptable to both fighters.

Then there were conversations with HBO about a fight with former junior welterweight titlist and welterweight contender Lamont Peterson on Dec. 3 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. But nothing was ever finalized with one issue being that the date was too close to the Nov. 19 fight Roc Nation Sports is co-promoting between its other star fighter, Andre Ward, and unified light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev.

So for the first time since his 2001 pro debut, Cotto will go through a calendar year without a ring appearance.

“We have had several conversations with Roc Nation about where Miguel is at and what he wants to do. Everything is good but with different circumstances he decided not to fight in 2016,” Bryan Perez, a Miguel Cotto Promotions executive and Cotto’s close friend, told ESPN. “We had different conversations about fighting in December but we decided not to fight and do it in the first part of 2017, between February or March.”

“The next fight is the last fight on the agreement we signed in 2015 but Miguel feels healthy and good and wants to continue fighting. He has the last word and will decide what to do and what his plan will be but he says he wants to continue to fight and to explore facing the best names out there and getting the best guarantee (in terms of money).”
Bryan Perez, Miguel Cotto Promotions executive
According to Perez, Cotto’s next fight will be the last one of the three-fight deal he signed with Roc Nation Sports in March 2015. While many have speculated that would likely be the final fight of Cotto’s career — he has said he is looking ahead to life after the boxing ring — Perez said it probably won’t be.

“The next fight is the last fight on the agreement we signed in 2015 but Miguel feels healthy and good and wants to continue fighting,” Perez said. “He has the last word and will decide what to do and what his plan will be but he says he wants to continue to fight and to explore facing the best names out there and getting the best guarantee (in terms of money). He will fight twice in 2017.”

Although Cotto won the middleweight title, he fought below the division limit of 160 in all three of his title fights (155 and 153 twice). The mid-to-low 150s is where he intends to fight next.

“He will be comfortable fighting below 160, but whatever opportunities pop up and whatever fight is the best guarantee and benefits his career he will consider,” Perez said. “We will wait to see.

Obviously, he is not going to go to welterweight.”

Perez said Peterson (34-3-1, 17 KOs), 32, of Washington, D.C., remains a possible opponent. Peterson has not fought since last October.
A fihgt between Miguel Cotto, left, and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2016 was never finalized. Getty Images
“Lamont Peterson is a former world champion, a great fighter and it would be a great fight but not a pay-per-view fight. But I think it’s a fight that could get done,” Perez said, adding that even though Peterson is aligned with adviser Al Haymon it would not prevent a deal being made with Roc Nation Sports, which is owned by music star Jay Z, a longtime rival of Haymon’s.

A far more intriguing bout would be against former welterweight and junior welterweight titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr. (33-2-1, 13 KOs), 33, of Palm Springs, California. Bradley has voiced interest in moving up to face Cotto.

“That’s one of the fights Tim would like before he is done with his career,” Monica Bradley, his wife and manager told ESPN in August when he re-signed with promoter Top Rank.

Said Perez: “Bradley is a huge fight, a great fight to make. It’s a great fight for the fans, a good style fight. Miguel is always willing to fight the best and if Bradley is there and available and we can agree on terms, we are more than happy to put them in the ring.”
Five-time world titleholder Timothy Bradley Jr. could be an interesting opponent for Miguel Cotto. Chris Farina/Top Rank
That fight would entail Cotto’s camp co-promoting with Top Rank, which promoted Cotto for most of his career until he left to sign with Roc Nation Sports after saying he would never leave the company. It was a move that deeply disappointed Top Rank president Todd duBoef, who recruited Cotto out of the Olympics and grew very close to him through the years.
“We ended our business relationship with Top Rank but if there’s a fight we can work on together we will work together, no problem,” Perez said. “We had a great relationship with Top Rank and we like and respect Bob [Arum] and Todd. I think Bradley would be a huge fight and a great fight.”

When asked for his view of the possible fight, duBoef was not overly enthusiastic and not anxious to go down that road. But he said he would acquiesce to his fighter.

“If it’s a fight that Tim Bradley and Monica want, I would discuss it,” duBoef said.

Regardless of when Cotto returns, at what weight and against which opponent, he will be back soon training with Hall of Famer Freddie Roach and looking for the biggest fight that can be made.

“This is the first time he had a layoff like this,” Perez said. “But at this point in his career it’s good for him. He’s been moving around in the gym to maintain his condition but it’s good for him to get the rest. But he is ready to fight again.”