By: Rey Colon
Eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao has pushed his next fight from November 10 to December 1, the date that three-division world champion Miguel Cotto had planned to return in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Pacquiao decided to move the date because of his re-election campaign as a Congressman in the Philippines that would be interrupted by his training. He would like to fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, naming Cotto, Timothy Bradley, and Juan Manuel Márquez as possibilities as he moves toward a showdown with Floyd Mayweather Jr. in April 2013.
An obstacle for Pacquiao-Cotto II would be the purse split, so everything seems to indicate they will continue to go their separate ways fighting on the same day, one on the east coast and other in the west. However, we can’t rule out the possibility of a last minute agreement that allows the second fight.
Cotto has several options and the main one is a rematch with Mayweather Jr. where he’d make millions based on the numbers of their first fight, but it’s possible that he could climb to 160 pounds and challenge WBO champion Dimitry Pirog to try to be the first Puerto Rican to win four titles from the main boxing bodies in different divisions.
