After missing the entirety of 2016, former multi-division champion Miguel Cotto will make his ring return on February 25th against an opponent to be named. He has not fought since November of 2015, when he lost a decision to Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas.
According to Bryan Perez, executive of Cotto’s titular Promotions, they are pursuing Arlington’s AT&T Stadium as a staging ground. The stadium hosted Canelo’s knockout of Liam Smith on September 17th.
As far as opponents, Perez mentioned two wildly different options. One is Lamont Peterson, who also missed all of 2016 but is still very capable in the ring. The other is James Kirkland, who was offered the fight last year but presumably hadn’t yet woken up from getting knocked into low Earth orbit by Canelo.
Obviously, one is slightly preferable to the other.
In any case, "Junito" recently turned thirty-six; sharp as he’s looked recently, there’s no telling how many fights he’s got left. Fingers crossed he doesn’t waste one on Kirkland.