Miguel Cotto to Take the Rest of the Year Off

We have seen the last of Miguel Cotto in 2014.

Surprise announcement

Talking via Twitter, WBC and Ring Middleweight champion Miguel Cotto announced that he will be sitting out the rest of 2014:

“Fans I wanted to share with you all that my return to the ring will be in early 2015!!. Thank you for the amazing support. #WarCotto- Miguel A. Cotto (@RealMiguelCotto) September 3, 2014”

Cotto was expected be back at the Madison Square Garden for a December 13 fight against an undetermined opponent. However, his surprise on social media last week closes the door on a second fight in 2014. The Puerto Rican ring icon last fought in June 7, when he put on the performance of his life in stopping the long reigning world middleweight champion, Sergio Martinez in 10 rounds. The win made Cotto the first Puerto Rican to win boxing world titles in four weight classes and has resurrected a career that once was thought to be over in 2012 when he lost back to back bouts to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Austin Trout.

Logistics problem

Gaby Penagarciano, an adviser to Cotto, told ESPN last week that they were trying to “coordinate” with trainer Freddie Roach about having the famed ring tactician with Cotto “at all times during camp for the planned December fight.” But Roach will be flying to the Philippines to prepare his top pupil Manny Pacquiao for the Filipino’s fight against Chris Algieri on November 22. Usually, Pacquiao and Roach spend the 2nd half of their camp at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles but since the Pacquiao-Algieri bout will be in Macau, Team Pacquiao has decided to hold the entire camp in the Philippines.

Roach and Cotto talked last week about the possibility of training in the Philippines but Cotto ultimately decided against traveling to the Philippines, citing that he doesn’t really have to force himself to fight because they have not found a viable opponent yet and he doesn’t need the money. After Team Cotto “looked at all possible scenarios”, Miguel Cotto had “no problem at all not fighting this year.”

What the future holds

Top Rank Vice President Todd DuBoef said that Cotto will be back in the ring on February or March 2015. But his intention to take a fight in the first quarter of 2015 has seemingly clouded the picture of the proposed mega buck fight against Canelo Alvarez in the middle of 2015. Cotto and Alvarez were expected to take separate fights in December before fighting each other during the Cinco de Mayo weekend of 2015.

Alvarez has booked a December 6 bout, according to his promoter Golden Boy. GBP President Oscar De La Hoya said that while the opponent and venue have not been determined yet, the date of the bout is definite.