By Rick Reeno

There is going to be a lot at stake next Saturday night at New York's Yankee Stadium. The HBO televised event will feature Miguel Cotto moving up to junior middleweight to challenge undefeated WBA champion Yuri Foreman. The winner will have some lucrative options in the aftermath. The exact options are dependent on the outcome of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao negotiations.

If Cotto beats Foreman, and the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight falls through, the Puerto Rican star would be in line for a rematch with Pacquiao in November, and that fight would take place at 154-pounds. Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the twelfth round of their fight last November to capture the WBO welterweight crown. If Foreman wins, then Arum expects Pacquiao to fight Antonio Margarito. A few months back, Pacquiao passed on a Foreman fight aand Arum doesn't expect his decision to change.

If a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight is made, then Antonio Margarito becomes a frontrunner to fight the Cotto- Foreman winner. Margarito-Foreman is more likely than Margarito-Cotto II. During numerous interviews, Cotto has held the position that he will never fight Margarito in a rematch. While never making a direct accusation, Cotto hints at the possibility that Margarito loaded his gloves for their fight in July of 2008, which Margarto won by TKO in eleven.  

"If the Mayweather deal gets made with Pacquiao, the winner of this fight [Cotto-Foreman] would be a natural for Antonio Margarito. If the Mayweather deal is not made, Pacquiao might fight Miguel Cotto, if Cotto beats Foreman, for the 154-pound title. I don't think Manny would fight Yuri Foreman because he says Yuri is too tall," Arum told BoxingScene.com.