By Rick Reeno
Gaby Penagaricano, legal adviser to WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32KOs), has been swamped with phone calls regarding the widespread rumblings of Cotto being approached for a potential rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26KOs) on May 2nd.
As Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum stated earlier , reports of Mayweather's adviser Al Haymon presenting a $40 million dollar offer to Cotto are laughable at best.
"That is just completely false," Penagaricano tells BoxingScene.com.
Both Arum and Penagaricano confirm that negotiations are ongoing for Cotto to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (44-1-1, 31KOs) on the previously mentioned date of May 2.
However, that doesn't rule out a potential Mayweather-Cotto rematch. But, that doesn't mean the rematch would necessarily happen in May or even in 2015.
"That fight is there, has been there and will be there. I don't know if [it will happen] in May or September, or the next year [in 2016] - but the fight is there," Penagaricano said.
Regarding some of the conflicting statements regarding Cotto's contractual obligations to HBO - Penagaricano clears things up and says there are none. That piece of information is significant, because Mayweather is contractually bound to rival network Showtime - at least until the end of 2015.
"No, he's not [contractually bound to HBO]. Not even a first and last....nothing, zero," Penagaricano stated.
Penagaricano and Arum are on the same page, with respect to a Canelo deal needing to be wrapped up by "very early" January - preferably next week or the second week of January at the latest.