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Miguel Cotto has spoken, and he's spoken very loudly. The Puerto Rican star says he absolutely will not go back down to 147 pounds to rematch Manny Pacquiao on June 9, and will hold firm on wanting the fight at 150-pound catchweight.
"He had no problems in dealing with Margarito at 150. He hasn't had problems with anyone regarding weight. With Joshua Clottey, they fought at 147. I [went] down to 145. The [rematch], I'm going to do it at my weight. I will not sacrifice my body again for the benefit of another boxer. It won't happen at 147 pounds."
So that pretty much takes care of that, I guess. Cotto (37-2, 30 KO) is in a position right now, with Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr fighting over him like two dogs on a rawhide bone, where he's calling the shots in a lot of ways. And he appears to be taking full advantage of that.
Good for him. The truth is, Cotto doesn't need Pacquiao on June 9. Pacquiao's choice, apparently, is to face Miguel Cotto, but Cotto could fight Mayweather, or he could wait until July and fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr (which is a fight Top Rank wants to do), or he could pull a rabbit out of the hat and fight Canelo Alvarez.
All of these are money fights. Miguel Cotto will make a big payday for any one of them. And he has no reason to do anything he doesn't want to do. Because right now Miguel Cotto just might be, oddly enough, the hottest property in all of boxing. Everybody wants a piece of Miguel Cotto.
Pacquiao vs Cotto II is the biggest money option on the table right now for Manny Pacquiao. Juan Manuel Marquez has basically talked himself out of a fourth fight with Manny, and Lamont Peterson is both not a big enough name and not signed to Top Rank. If you're going to do Peterson, and you're Top Rank, you might as well just do Timothy Bradley instead and hold all the cards.
I know many aren't as amused by this whole thing as I am, but this Cotto fever is really tickling me something fierce. I don't even know exactly what it is -- it's just fun to watch someone have this kind of power in these negotiations with Pacquiao and/or Mayweather.