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Miguel Cotto vs. Canelo Alvarez close for Nov. 21; rematch clause issues ironed out
The long-awaited Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez fight is inching closer to reality.
All the major deal points have been agreed to — including the rematch clause — and the contracts are being reviewed by the involved parties, Roc Nation Sports President and Chief of Branding Strategy Michael Yormark told USA TODAY Sports on Monday. The middleweight championship fight is being planned for Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on HBO Pay-Per-View.
“I think it’s fair to say that we’ve gotten past any of the major issues and we’re now crossing the t’s, dotting the i’s. We want to make sure everything’s agreed upon,” Yormark said. “We want no room for interpretation. We’re rounding third, heading for home; we’re very, very excited about this fight. We think this is the fight of the year. we just gotta make sure all the ducks are in a row, that everybody is on the same page on every issue. I think we’re fairly close to making that announcement.”
Oscar De La Hoya said last week that the rematch clause was holding the fight up. David Itskowitch, who heads Roc Nation’s boxing division, says the issue with the rematch clause pertained to purse splits but has since been resolved with Golden Boy Promotions, which promotes Alvarez. The summit meeting between two of the biggest stars in boxing, another chapter in the storied rivalry between Puerto Rico and Mexico, will be contested at a catchweight of 155 pounds.
Cotto has reeled off three consecutive knockout wins since pairing up with seven-time trainer of the year Freddie Roach. The four-division champ stopped journeyman Delvin Rodriguez, then wrested the middleweight crown from Sergio Martinez last summer. In his lone outing this year, he destroyed former champion Daniel Geale. His last two fights have taken place at catchweights below 160 pounds, and he’s going down further in weight for Canelo. But this time, the catchweight is welcomed.
Canelo has never fought above 155 pounds and is himself coming off a devastating KO victory against James Kirkland in May. The Mexican rock star’s only pro defeat came to Floyd Mayweather in 2013.
“I don’t think there’s anything that we’re going through right now and reviewing that would prevent this fight from happening in November,” Yormark said. “It’s just the process that you have to go through for a fight of this magnitude to make sure everyone understands what they’ve agreed to and everyone’s on the same page so that when we say go, we don’t look back, and all we do is promote this fight and make it the biggest fight of the year.”
Yormark acknowledged that “for the most part, negotiations are done,” and Itskowitch says that they have agreed to a step-aside deal (for an undisclosed sum) with Gennady Golovkin to allow the fight to continue. GGG is the mandatory challenger to Cotto’s WBC title, and is due to fight the winner of this bout.
Golovkin also accepted money to allow Cotto to fight Geale, and has been beating the drum to entice a big-name opponent for some time. He’ll headline his first pay-per-view in October, a middleweight unification fight against David Lemieux.
The telecast will resemble other Roc Nation shows, according to Itskowitch, including a musical act and their trademark black ring mat.
Both Yormark and Itskowitch said that their hope is to announce the fight in the coming days. Boxing fans hope so, too.
Y dicen que se han arreglado los problemas que había entre GBP y Rocnation y en cualquier momento anunciarán oficialmente #CottoCanelo
— JuliusJulianis (@JulianisJulius) August 11, 2015
whatever n**** you don't pay none of my fuckin bills asshat
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