By Keith Idec

Knowing he can always count on Freddie Roach to say something provocative, Miguel Cotto turned to his famous trainer Saturday night.

Cotto had just completely out-classed Yoshihiro Kamegai to win the vacant WBO super welterweight title at StubHub Center in Carson, California. The Puerto Rican icon’s unanimous-decision victory over the game Japanese contender marked Cotto’s first fight since his decisive loss to Canelo Alvarez in November 2015.

Naturally, when Cotto told Max Kellerman he’d allow Roach to pick the supposed final opponent of his Hall-of-Fame career, Roach replied that he wants Cotto to fight the winner of the highly anticipated bout between Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin on September 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Roach’s ambitious answer sounded great, but it is extremely unlikely that Cotto will fight the Alvarez-Golovkin winner.

Cotto continued to say before and after he beat Kamegai that he won’t box beyond December 31 – that 2017 will, without question, be his last year in this sport. The four-division champion will turn 37 on October 29 and wants to spend more time with his family.

Based on that stipulation alone, the idea of fighting Alvarez or Golovkin is completely impractical.

Mexico’s Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) and Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) are expected to partake in a grueling fight two weeks from Saturday night. No matter who wins or how, neither fighter will want to take only a month, perhaps less, before heading back into training camp for a fight against Cotto that would need to take place by mid-December.

It isn’t like either of them would need the money following their HBO Pay-Per-View showdown next month. It’s not like beating Cotto would do much for the status of Alvarez or Golovkin, either.

Alvarez already beat him comfortably in their 12-round fight for Cotto’s WBC middleweight title 21 months ago in Las Vegas. If Golovkin overcomes Alvarez, he’ll already have beaten an opponent who defeated Cotto.

And honestly, who really believes that Roach or Cotto would want him to fight the bigger, stronger Golovkin, especially if one of boxing’s most ferocious finishers is coming off a victory over Alvarez? Cotto also refused to fight at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds, both as a challenger and champion.

That wouldn’t change if Cotto were to pursue a fight against Golovkin. Except then, Cotto wouldn’t be in any position to dictate terms to Golovkin (or Alvarez, if he wins).

If Cotto, like so many hasty boxers before him, postponed retirement and fought into 2018, a fight against Alvarez, even if he loses to Golovkin, would be a realistic, profitable option. But assuming Cotto’s commitment to retirement by the end of this year is firm, there aren’t many attractive alternatives to the Alvarez-Golovkin winner.

Retirement might be Cotto’s most sensible option at this point.

He has been one of boxing’s best-compensated fighters of this era and there’s seemingly no need for Cotto to keep fighting from a financial standpoint. Just three years removed from his epic upset of Sergio Martinez in their middleweight title fight at Madison Square Garden, Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs) has nothing left to prove inside of a boxing ring.

Not after winning world titles in four weight classes. Certainly not after so many brutal brawls that have made the courageous Cotto an old 36.

Defeating David Lemieux wouldn’t do anything to enhance Cotto’s legacy and that type of challenge would be nowhere near safe enough to be considered some sort of farewell fight.

Cotto-Mikey Garcia, another fight that has gained some social media steam since Saturday night, would be difficult to make because of their size difference. Cotto can’t make welterweight anymore and asking Garcia to move up more than seven pounds, when he began 2017 as a lightweight, wouldn’t be a reasonable request.

There’s not a whole lot within the 154-pound division that makes much sense for Cotto’s final fight, either. Three other champions in that weight class – Jermell Charlo (WBC), Erislandy Lara (WBA super) and Jarrett Hurd (IBF) – are scheduled to defend their titles in separate bouts on the same card October 14 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Even if they all win, none of them would be able to meet Cotto’s December deadline after fighting that night. If Austin Trout were to beat Hurd for the IBF junior middleweight title October 14, a Cotto-Trout fight might be saleable because Cotto would get an opportunity to avenge one of his five defeats.

Again, though, Trout wouldn’t be ready to go by Cotto’s retirement date.

Demetrius Andrade is more than available, but the unbeaten WBA world super welterweight champion would be a high-risk, low-reward proposition for an aged Cotto. It’s tough to imagine Cotto and Roach accepting a tall, skilled southpaw as the opponent for the final fight of his 16-year pro career.

Meanwhile, the status of James Kirkland’s broken nose is unknown. If Kirkland is healthy, Cotto-Kirkland is intriguing, as long as it isn’t packaged as a pay-per-view event again.

Their planned February 25 fight in Frisco, Texas, was canceled in January, when Kirkland reportedly suffered a broken nose during a sparring session. Fans and media were critical because Cotto-Kirkland was to headline HBO Pay-Per-View’s four-fight show six months ago.

If HBO could find room in its budget, as sometimes happens toward the end of the year, maybe Cotto could reschedule his fight against Kirkland and HBO could broadcast it live on the network. Of course, Kirkland hasn’t fought in more than two years, not since Alvarez annihilated him in Houston, and Cotto would need to take a lower guarantee than Roc Nation Sports would’ve afforded him for facing Kirkland on February 25.

Cotto was paid a $750,000 purse for fighting the defensively flawed Kamegai (27-4-2, 24 KOs). He accepted less money out of new partner Golden Boy Promotions’ portion of HBO’s license fee because he reportedly received a seven-figure settlement for walking away from his ill-conceived contract with Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports.

If his history has taught us anything, it’s that Cotto’s ego won’t allow him to take short money for his next fight. That might mean there’s not an acceptable dollar amount and/or an opponent compelling enough to convince Cotto to fight one last time before his self-imposed deadline.

Regardless, HBO doesn’t owe Cotto a fight against an overmatched opponent so that he can squeeze in another win and another payday before heading home to Puerto Rico for good. If Cotto is completely committed to not boxing after 2017, maybe there simply shouldn’t be a next fight for him.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.