By Miguel Rivera
Former three division world champion Miguel Cotto (38-4, 31KOs) would like to see Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions come together and sort out their differences.
Cotto finds himself in a good position, because his company Miguel Cotto Promotions has a good working relationship with both promotional outfits.
But some of the fighters are now suffering because big fights being prevented due to the ongoing rivalry between the two companies.
Politics are involved as well. When HBO broke their business ties with Golden Boy in early 2013, the caused a further divide as Golden Boy fully aligned themselves with rival cable network Showtime, while Top Rank promoted fighters are exclusively found on HBO.
"Has the rivalry between the companies been beneficial [to boxing]? No. In one way or another, the boxing community has been segregated, especially [the fighters]. Being [contractually] tied to a [promoter] is doing more harm than being beneficial. If you ask [Top Rank CEO] Bob Arum or [Golden Boy CEO] Richard Schaefer, both of them are going to say they are fine [with the way things are], but the ideal thing is for both companies to come together, to work out the rough edges and let the public see the big events, the big fights," Cotto said.