By Miguel Rivera
As reported a few weeks ago by BoxingScene.com, former four division world champion Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) is slated to return to the ring in early 2017.
Cotto has been out of the ring since last November, when he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
There were issues with securing an opponent that pushed Cotto to postpone his return to next year. Cotto was in talks to face Juan Manuel Marquez, who's been inactive since May of 2014, but they were unable to reach an agreement on the weight. Cotto was willing to go down to 150 and Marquez wanted the welterweight limit of 147.
One opponent in particular on Cotto's radar is former two division champion Timothy Bradley (33-2-1, 13KOs), who last fought in April when he lost a twelve round decision to Manny Pacquiao in their trilogy fight. The upcoming bout is Cotto's last on his promotional contract with Roc Natiion Sports.
Bradley has often called for a fight with Cotto and he's willing to head up to 154-pounds to make it happen.
"Bradley is a huge fight, a great fight to make. It's a great fight for the fans, a good style fight. Miguel is always willing to fight the best and if Bradley is there and available and we can agree on terms, we are more than happy to put them in the ring," said Miguel Cotto Promotions head Bryan Perez to ESPN Deportes.
Bradley is promoted by Top Rank, and Cotto had a bad falling out with the company after departing early last year to join Roc Nation. Top Rank had promoted Cotto for nearly his entire career, but he was a promotional free agent from the end of 2011 to the start of the Roc Nation deal last year.
"We ended our business relationship with Top Rank but if there's a fight we can work on together we will work together, no problem," Perez said. "We had a great relationship with Top Rank and we like and respect Bob [Arum] and Todd [duBoef]. I think Bradley would be a huge fight and a great fight."
