Miguel Cotto has yet to name an opponent for the first defense of his World Boxing Council middleweight title, but his adviser, Gaby PeñagarÃcano, revealed that they could make an announcement soon.
PeñagarÃcano said in an interview that nothing is final as they are still considering several options at this point, but tells fans to expect an announcement in the coming days.
"There is nothing finalized, although we are specifically working right now on the next fight for Miguel," PeñagarÃcano said. "I'd rather keep the names of the potential opponents confidential, but certainly there are several names we are in talks with and I think very soon we will have an announcement."
Cotto, who holds a 39-4 record with 32 knockout wins, has not fought since winning the WBC middleweight title via 10th-round stoppage win against Sergio Martinez in June last year.
The 34-year-old was linked to a showdown against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, but the negotiation for the proposed fight did not come to fruition as the two camps failed to find a common ground before the deadline set by Canelo's camp, who, in turn, opted to strike a deal with James Kirkland for a fight on May 9 in Houston.
With Alvarez out on the list of the possible opponents, reports indicated that Cotto might face Timothy Bradley, Brandon Rios or Cornelius Bundrage. The Caguas, Puerto Rico native was also linked to a fight against Floyd Mayweather before the unbeaten champion announced that he will face Manny Pacquiao on May 2.
PeñagarÃcano declined to reveal names, but he insisted that they are already in the process of finalizing a big fight, creating speculation that it might be against Gennady Golovkin, the unbeaten World Boxing Association and International Boxing Organization middleweight champion.
Cotto recently said that he will not let any association dictate his next move, but WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman recently reiterated that the Puerto Rican should defend his title against Golovkin, the mandatory challenger for the middleweight title.
However, Max Hermann, Golovkin's manager, believes that fight against Cotto will not happen anytime soon and also dismissed rumors that they will soon try to get a shot against Mayweather after the pound-for-pound king's super showdown against Pacquiao on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
"He's mandatory challenger for Miguel Cotto but I don't think that fight will happen soon," Hermann said. "Floyd Mayweather is not a realistic option for Gennady - it's just a fantasy. It's beyond our scope of opponents because of a number of issues."
