By Miguel Rivera
As previously reported, Juan Manuel Marquez is back in the hunt for a showdown with fellow former four division world champion Miguel Cotto
The Puerto Rican superstar was scheduled to fight on February 25th in Texas. The entire HBO Pay-Per-View card was canceled after Cotto's opponent, James Kirkland, withdrew with a fractured nose.
Cotto is waiting for a date in April or June and hopes to resume training. He's been out of the ring since November 2015, when he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Marquez, 43 years old, has been out of the ring since May of 2014 when he won a twelve round decision over former world champion Mike Alvarado. The Mexican veteran spoke to his head trainer Ignacio "Nacho" Beristain and told him that he needs a warmup fight in the coming months, and then Cotto.
"The comment that Juan Manuel made to me is that they are going to do a preparation fight and then they are going to fight by September," Nacho told Jose Sanchez. "[Cotto] is one of the great Puerto Rican boxers. One of the best that Puerto Rico has given us."
"I advised Juan Manuel that the (preparatory) fight would have to be in June because I have a lot of commitments and I can not be with him all the time.'
A June return is necessary, because Nacho will be busy preparing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. for his scheduled fight with Canelo on May 6th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. In addition, Nacho is currently working with Rey Vargas, who will face Britain's Gavin McDonnell on February 25 in Yorkshire, England for the vacant 122-pound World Boxing Council (WBC) title.
The negotiations between Cotto and Marquez were also confirmed by Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank.
"Juan Manuel came to see us last week if I'm not mistaken and we talked about several things, including that fight [with Cotto]. But it was only preliminary because there is nothing concrete on our part," said Arum to Sanchez.
Top Rank signed Cotto after the 2000 Olympics. Cotto became a free agent in 2012, but went back to Top Rank on a fight by fight basis in 2013. They had a nasty split after Cotto walked away from them to join Roc Nation Sports.
Despite the past bad blood, Arum said he was willing to collaborate with Cotto and Roc Nation.
"Well, we work with everyone. I would have to see. But I do not speculate about it because these are very peculiar people," added Arum.
The biggest hurdle, which killed the fight discussions last year, is a catch-weight that works for both boxers.
