By Jake Donovan

Reports have begun to swirl of progress being made in regards to a potential clash between World middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and former 154 lb. titlist Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.

Except that it’s not.

Oscar de la Hoya, president of Golden Boy Promotions, insists that the Alvarez side has agreed to all terms and that the only thing left is for Cotto and his team to follow suit.

In recent weeks, de la Hoya has also: offered to put up a record-breaking purse in order to secure the rights for a long-awaited showdown with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao; has suggested that the winner of this weekend’s showdown between Amir Khan and Devon Alexander is next in line for a shot at Mayweather; insisted that an all-British bout between Khan and Kell Brook is “Plan B” in the event that Khan doesn’t land Mayweather, and that such a fight would draw 100,000 fans.

Credit to the Hall-of-Fame fighter and now full-time promoter for drumming up interest as it relates to his promotional company, who hosts Khan-Alexander and a full undercard at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas this weekend.

It doesn’t mean that every fight he’s suggested for the future will come to fruition. For the moment, Cotto-Alvarez remains among those still remain no further along than “in talks.”

The proposed date is May 2 – one that would favor Alvarez, given that the weekend will be dedicated to the Cinco de Mayo holiday. Terms of the suggested clash haven’t been disclosed, such as purse splits, revenue shares, agreed upon weight limit and other key matters.

Suggested locations for such a fight include Las Vegas, San Antonio, Dallas and New York City. Three of the four cities would have Alvarez as the clear crowd favorite, while Cotto has for nearly a decade served as a celebrated superstar in the Puerto Rican-friendly confines of New York City.

Coverage regarding negotiations for – or even the mere suggestion of – such a fight have all carried a common theme. Alvarez and Golden Boy Promotions have been adamant in its intentions to reclaim fight dates on Cinco de Mayo weekend in May and the mid-September Saturday closest to Mexican Independence Day.

For the past two years, Mayweather has served as the A-side for both weekends, including his own head-on collision with Alvarez last September. Mayweather won the bout, which remains the most lucrative in boxing history, having raked in more than $20 million at the live gate and over $150 million in Pay-Per-View revenue.

The fight was produced and distributed by Showtime’s pay-per-view arm, the second of a lucrative six-fight deal between the network and Mayweather. Alvarez scored wins in March and July this year, both of which took place on Showtime PPV. A third PPV fight was originally in store, but the Mexican superstar decided to end his relationship with the network to return to HBO.

The motivating factor behind his jumping ship was putting himself in position to be able to fight on Cinco de Mayo and Mexican Independence Day weekends, which wasn’t going to happen as long as both he and Mayweather were fighting under the Showtime banner. Landing a big enough fight on HBO is the only way he and Golden Boy could attempt to force Mayweather off of either weekend, which has led to ongoing negotiations with the Cotto camp.

Just as Alvarez isn’t keen on playing second fiddle to anyone in the sport, Cotto is not at all the type to which you attempt to dictate terms.

The Puerto Rican superstar made history for his island, becoming the first ever Boricua to capture titles in four weight classes. The feat was accomplished in June, when he manhandled Sergio Martinez to lift the World lineal middleweight championship in front of a sold-out crowd at Madison Square Garden. The event took place on a June weekend in New York City that also plays host to the Puerto Rican Day Parade. A Cotto fight in the New York region has preceded the parade six times dating back to 2005 – five times at Madison Square Garden, and a June ’10 appearance at the revamped Yankees Stadium in the Bronx.

From the outside looking in, the suggestion would be that the fighter walking into hostile territory – Alvarez facing Cotto in New York City on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade, Cotto fighting in Las Vegas, San Antonio or Dallas on Cinco de Mayo weekend – would have to be properly compensated.

Given the history of both fighters at the negotiating table, either side agreeing to any severe concessions to appease the other doesn’t seem as likely as their representatives – in this case, de la Hoya and Bob Arum - will suggest is the case.

Should this fight not come to fruition, Cotto is not without his options. While he has allowed Top Rank to negotiate on his behalf along with adviser Gaby Peñagaricano, Cotto remains a free agent and can fight wherever – and for whomever – he chooses.

That leaves the fighting pride of Puerto Rico with big fight possibilities on both sides of the street. Along with the proposed mouthwatering showdown with Alvarez, there is also within his grasp an epic middleweight clash with rising unbeaten superstar Gennady Golovkin, or even a rematch with Mayweather, against whom he lost in a May ’12 clash that sold 1.5 million pay-per-view units.

A sequel was never fully in demand, but becomes more relevant than ever if it were to happen next year. Mayweather serves as the reigning lineal welterweight and super welterweight champion. A win over Cotto would make him just the second fighter in boxing history to simultaneously reign as true World champion in three weight classes, with the late, great Henry Armstrong the only other to turn the trick nearly 80 years ago.

Even while serving as the richest fighter in the world today, Mayweather’s ability to carry an event on his own has taken a hit in the wake of his revenue record-breaking event with Alvarez. Fans have responded to Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao not being able to come to terms for the biggest fight boxing has to offer, having finally grown tired of paying exorbitant pay-per-view prices for bouts against anyone but each other.

The pay-per-view model has taken a hit all the way around. Cotto’s historic win over Martinez played to a sold-out Madison Square Garden, but miserably underperformed in pay-per-view sales. Alvarez has only been marginally better, scoring wins in a pair of pay-per-view headliners in 2014 that barely cracked the 300,000-buy barrier – respectable numbers given the events, but translating to far less eyes on his recent fights than was the case prior to the start of the year.

Regardless of what Alvarez and Golden Boy have agreed to, it’s clear that there’s still work to be done on the Cotto side before we can offer the declaration that talks have progressed. If Cotto still isn’t aware of key details of negotiations – as suggested by Arum in the same RingTV.com article where de la Hoya claims Alvarez is all the way in – then it makes it tough to believe that we’re any closer to good news or otherwise.

Efforts seeking comment from Top Rank and Miguel Cotto Promotions went unreturned.



Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as a member of Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox