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By Miguel Rivera
Former four division world champion Miguel Cotto is heading to Los Angeles to resume his preparation for a return that has twice been put on hold this year due to cancellations that were beyond the control of the Puerto Rican boxer.
Cotto will be joined by Bryan Perez, the executive director of his promotional company, with the mission to restart the work on the road for the upcoming contest on August 26 against Japanese fighter Yoshihiro Kamegai at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.
Cotto, who is about to turn 37, has a record of 40-5 and 33 KO's. The fight with Kamegai will have the vacant WBO junior middleweight world title at stake.
Cotto's head trainer Freddie Roach is currently in Australia where his other fighter, welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao, will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) title against Australia's Jeff Horn on Saturday night (Sunday in Australia).
"Miguel has been working lightly on the Island," said Perez to Carlos Narvaez. "He's in a pre-training phase and we're hoping to start the full plan next Tuesday in Los Angeles when Freddie returns."
For the Puerto Rican star this fight is the next chapter his career.
A few weeks ago, Cotto announced that he had parted ways with promotional company Roc Nation Sports, after two unsuccessful attempts to schedule a fight this year.
In February, his HBO Pay-Per-View fight against James Kirkland collapsed following an alleged injury to the opponent, and then the showdown against Kamegai was delayed by RNS's problems in obtaining a venue and a television network for the transmission of the bout.
Cotto was able to finalize the deal with Kamegai, after announcing that he signed a promotional agreement with Golden Boy Promotions.
Cotto has been out of the ring since November of 2015, when he lost a twelve round decision to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.