By Miguel Rivera

Michael Yormark, president & chief of branding and strategy, revealed yesterday that he is immersed in an intense process of selecting the next opponent for his star fighter, former four division world champion Miguel Cotto.

The return of Cotto is being planned for a date in April or May.

Although he did not mention it, Yormark has a 30-day deadline to make a new announcement following the cancellation two weeks ago of the scheduled return of Cotto on February 25 in Frisco, Texas. The entire HBO Pay-Per-View event was canceled due to claimed injury by Cotto's opponent, James Kirkland.

Yormark is moving as quickly as possible to finalize a new date.

"We are very disappointed with the cancellation. But we are moving the pieces and working hand in hand with the Cotto team as they have shown interest in returning between the months of April or May, "Yormark said to Carlos Narvaez.

"We are looking at options. We are looking at who makes sense for Miguel to fight. It is also a little early to know what is available [as far as HBO dates]. So we are looking around and also working on the selection of a new venue. "

On February 2, Roc Nation announced the cancellation of the fight because of an alleged nasal fracture suffered by Kirkland during his preparation.

Cotto has repeatedly called on Roc Nation to obtain medical evidence to review Kirkland's injury and confirm it.

Yormark, knows Cotto's request, but hinted that he will concentrate his efforts on finding a new opponent.

"I will not go into detail and I understand very well what Miguel is asking," Yormark said.

"What I can say is that it is a legitimate injury. It is real and these are very unfortunate things that happen in this sport. But we are focused on finding a new opponent. It has not been easy. We know there has been talk of [Tim] Bradley and [Juan Manuel] Marquez. In the case of Marquez, and he has been emphatic in that he wants to do a preparation fight first, so (a fight with Cotto) is something that could occur in September. Our priority now is to find an opponent for Miguel soon."

Cotto (40-5, 33KO's) signed a multimillion-dollar three-fight deal with Roc Nation in 2015.