By Steve Kim

As Miguel Cotto reunited with Top Rank before his bout versus Delvin Rodriguez in October of 2013, he had pledged his loyalty to Todd duBoef( the president of Top Rank) with whom he had enjoyed a close, personal relationship with. Top Rank had promoted the Puerto Rican to stardom after signing him out of the 2000 Olympics.

After a winless 2012 where he faced Floyd Mayweather and Austin Trout outside the Top Rank banner, he returned to them and notched victories over Rodriguez and then became the middleweight champion of the world with a knockout of Sergio Martinez last June. It was expected that a bout with Mexican star, Saul Alvarez would be next this spring.

Now there are reports coming out that Cotto will be signing a promotional pact with Roc Nation Sports on Thursday. Yes, where there is smoke there is fire.

When reached at his office in Las Vegas, Todd duBoef told Boxingscene.com - "I'm disappointed in their conduct across the board. People can make business decisions and I may not agree with it, but I'll tell you what, when you talk about a relationship - conduct is everything."

As Cotto and his reps turned down a fight with Alvarez (which would've paid him in the neighborhood of $10.5 million) for a period of time there was suddenly radio silence on their end as phone calls and emails from duBoef - who wanted to map out their next move - went unreturned.

''You don't act that way if you know how to handle relationships and it's in your DNA to be professional,"said duBoef.

It was reported that two clients of Top Rank, Brandon Rios and Tim Bradley, were in the running to face Cotto, along with IBF 154-pound titlist, Cornlius Bundrage.

When asked if those two were now off the table, duBoef responded - "Put it this way, I would never, ever, ever, ever dismiss anything on behalf of our duty to what we think is the best for our fighters. I would never, ever, ever, ever dismiss it."

Cotto and Top Rank never formally agreed upon a contract as the boxer returned to the fold in 2013, but instead worked on a fight-by-fight basis.

It's clear that duBoef believes that those in Cotto's inner circle have influenced his decision. It's hard not to think that he's talking about Cotto's legal adviser, Gaby Penagaricano, when he stated:

"If it was a cancer it was in remission. I was able to keep it in remission but eventually it takes over the whole body. I can only keep it in remission for so long."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com