Report: Miguel Cotto-Canelo Alvarez talks called off
Canelo Alvarez has called off a May 2 fight with middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, with his promoter citing frustration with Cotto having yet to finalize the deal.
By
R.J. White
•
1 min read
Talks between middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and former junior middleweight titlist Canelo Alvarez have been called off, ESPN.com reports.
The fight, which would have taken place on May 2, had been in works for the past few months, but Alvarez grew tired of waiting for Cotto to finalize the deal and decided to move on and face a yet-to-be-determined opponent on May 2, Alvarez's promoter Oscar De La Hoya said.
"The deal is off the table with Cotto," De La Hoya said Saturday. "They did not accept. So Canelo decided to move on. We had a deadline. We had our fifth deadline [Friday night], and Canelo has decided, because Cotto and [attorney] Gaby [Penagaricano] turned down the deal, he is obviously not going to be waiting for nobody. He has to move on and resume his career and we have to lock down an opponent. He's still fighting May 2."
Penagaricano indicatced that he's disappointed Alvarez has removed himself from negotations but added that he and Cotto understand and are not upset.
"This is not about deadlines. This is about trying to making a deal. You either make it or you don't," Penagaricano said. "I did speak to Oscar late [Friday night]. He said, 'We have to make a deal.' I said, 'We're not there yet. If you have to move on, I respect that. If you have to move, you have to move.'"
"It's always the financial side. There was no agreement on that," he said. "I don't know what would have happened if we had more time. If Oscar doesn't have more time, he doesn't have more time. It's a great fight, but Miguel doesn't need it for his career. So if it doesn't happen, so be it. He's OK. No problem. If Oscar needs to move he needs to move. We're not going to go back to them. We'll huddle and meet Miguel on Tuesday, and we will start planning."
With Alvarez stepping away from a potential showdown with Cotto, the possibility of a rematch between Cotto and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. has increased, per the report. Mayweather defeated Cotto on points in May 2012 to win a junior middleweight title. If a fight between the two sides were to be scheduled and Mayweather were to win, he would hold welterweight, junior middleweight and middleweight world titles simultaneously.
