By Miguel Rivera
Michael Yormark, President of Roc Nation, is hoping to continue his relationship with former four division world champion Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33KOs).
A press conference was held on Monday to officially announce Cotto's return on February 25th in Frisco, Texas. The Puerto Rican star will face James Kirkland in the main event of an HBO Pay-Per-View card. It will be Cotto's first fight since losing a twelve round decision to Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez last November in Las Vegas.
The fight will also be the final obligation of Cotto's three fight contract with Roc Nation.
Cotto signed on with Roc Nation in 2015, with the deal reportedly being a $50 million package. At the time he working with Top Rank on a fight by fight basis and prior to that he was working with Golden Boy Promotions in a similar manner.
Top Rank, who signed Cotto when he came out of the Olympics in 2000, had promoted his entire career - until the point where Cotto's contract expired at the end of 2011 and he decided to continue his pro run as a free agent.
Cotto, 36, has assured that he will end his boxing career in 2017. He wants to have a big fight to close his career out, and Roc Nation certainly wants to be a part of that. As Cotto's history has shown, there is no guarantee that he will extend his agreement with them.
"This is the third event with Miguel. We have had a great relationship with him, "Yormark said to Carlos Narvaez. "But the contract is something that we will then discuss with Miguel to see what direction we will take. Yes I can say that we have had a great relationship with him, with Bryan Perez and Hector Soto. They are part of the family."
Yormark is confident that Cotto, after his next contest, will be right back in the mix for the big fights.
"We feel very confident. But it's an issue that we'll touch on when this fight is over. At the moment, I think this is an opportunity to fight in Texas, to open The Star is a good way to start 2017. We know that this fight will also be a good pay per view event," he said.
