By Miguel Rivera

Juan Manuel Marquez has questioned why Freddie Roach, trainer of Miguel Cotto, will not provide a catch-weight of 147-pounds for a potential matchup between the two former four division world champions.

During 2016, the two sides were negotiating for some time and the biggest issue, above everything else, was the weight. Cotto was requesting a catch-weight of 150 to 151-pounds, which Marquez believes is way too much for him. Marquez would like to have the fight at no higher than the welterweight limit of 147-pounds. Marquez would be willing to go up one pound, to a catch-weight of 148.

Marquez also wanted a rehdyration clause, preventing each fighter from gaining no more than 10 pounds of added weight when the boxers step on the scale on the morning of the fight. But Marquez seems to have backed off that demand. Cotto's last few fights took place in the middleweight division, but he often weighed in as a junior middleweight.

The Puerto Rican star he been out of the ring since last November, when he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

For his part, Marquez - 42-years-old - has been out of the ring since May of 2014, when he won a twelve round decision over Mike Alvarado at The Forum in Los Angeles. 

Roc Nation Sports, who promote Cotto, have had issues with getting him the right opponent for his return. He is slated to come back to the ring in the first quarter of 2017, possibly at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Marquez saw a recent interview with Roach, where the veteran trainer mentioned that Cotto was capable of making 147. If that's the case, Marquez wants to know why he's not being offered the welterweight limit for Cotto.

"There would have to be an agreement on the weight. He and his team wanted to fight at 150 or 151, which I believe is particularly a lot of weight [for me]. Maybe there could be a maximum weight of 148, because we are already giving away an advantage the following day: how much weight will he put on [the day of the fight]?," Marquez told ESPN Deportes.

"Here is the important thing, Cotto is a great fighter and it would be an interesting fight for the fans, but it is also necessary to see what the weight would be. Freddie Roach had mentioned that [Cotto] was able to make the 147 limit - now why can't he give me [a limit of] 147 if wants to fight with me?" 

Cotto has a record of 40-5 and 33 knockouts, and Marquez is 56-7-1 and 40KO's.