By Carlos Boogs, Ryan Burton
Former two division champion Timothy Bradley (33-2-1, 13KOs) is very interested in a fight with Puerto Rican superstar Miguel Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs), who is scheduled 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. Bradley has been taking a break since his decision loss to Manny Pacquiao in their April trilogy fight.
Cotto's extended layoff has been in part to his team's inability to secure an opponent that HBO would approve for a fall pay-per-view. Discussions for a fight with Juan Manuel Marquez went nowhere, because the two sides were never on the same page regarding the weight limit.
Cotto's relationship with Top Rank ended badly when he stepped away from them to sign a lucrative deal with Roc Nation Sports in early 2015. Despite the bad feelings, Cotto's team has no problem with sitting down with Top Rank to negotiate a fight against Bradley.
Before he became a free agent at the end of 2011, Cotto's entire career had been built under Top Rank's banner.
"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.
"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. 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."
Bradley is very receptive to the idea of facing Cotto. Unlike Marquez, Bradley is very open to idea of negotiating the weight. Cotto, who captured world titles in four weight divisions, was looking to return at the junior middleweight limit of 154-pounds.
Bradley is willing to meet him in the middle at 150-pounds, but he's not holding a hard line on that weight limit. He's willing to negotiate a weight limit that works for both parties.
"The Cotto fight does interest me. Cotto is [short, but he's] thick. We could fight at 150. If he wants to fight, his camp and my people - they'll work it out. I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot by telling you that I'll fight him at this weight or that weight, and then they try to hold me accountable for it," Bradley said.
