By Jhonny Gonzalez
Former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (37-3, 30KOs) is very happy with his decision to become a free agent. For nearly his entire career the Puerto Rican boxer was promoted by Top Rank. The promotional agreement ran out on December 31 of last year.
Cotto now uses his own company, Miguel Cotto Promotions, to promote his career. He worked with Golden Boy Promotions for the May fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. He will work with them again on December 1, when he challenges junior middleweight champion Austin Trout.
Cotto has no complaints about his past business relationship with Top Rank.
"I have no complaints whatsoever with Top Rank. They did a great job with me. I am very grateful to them. What I am today, I owe greatly to Top Rank. But I want my business to grow. You get better every day and this is the way to do it. So we had the opportunity to [become a free agent] and we are now in a better position," Cotto told Paul Maldonado.
"We have no middlemen here. We make the decisions."
Having the ability to promote himself is what led Cotto to reject an offer to fight Manny Pacquiao in a December rematch. Cotto was stopped by Pacquiao in the twelfth round of a bout fought in 2009 at a catch-weight of 145-pounds.
Cotto continues to dispute the amount of money presented to him by Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum.
"[The offer was] far from $13 million. No disrespect to Mr. Bob Arum, but if that is what he told you [the media], and if you're asking me about it - then I have to say that he's a liar, that is a total lie. Bob Arum never came to us with that kind of offer. I can only say that it is completely a lie," said Cotto.
"The offer was very similar, if not equal, to what we received in 2009. To do this [rematch], we had to go to 150 pounds for them to regain the advantage of making me lose weight. With those two factors in perspective [the weight and the money], we said no to the fight."
