Juan Manuel Marquez vs Miguel Cotto Fight Likely To Happen This Year

The proposed Juan Manuel Marquez vs Miguel Cotto will likely happen this year after the Puerto Rican was forced to move his comeback fight from June 18 to fall this year.

Cotto, who lost his World Boxing Council middleweight to Saul Alvarez in November, was supposed to fight again on June 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However, ESPN confirmed that the planned comeback fight in June was shelved because HBO PPV is not interested in carrying Cotto’s fight against a second-tier opponent.

Cotto was reportedly considering facing Diego Chaves and James Kirkland but HBO were not too thrilled about the potential matchup. The Puerto Rican was also linked to a possible fight against Kell Brook and Timothy Bradley, but both fighters will not be available in June.

With Cotto running out of options, the former world champion will likely settle for a showdown with Marquez, who is reportedly planning to fight two more times before officially announcing his retirement.

Marquez, who has a 56-7-1 record with 40 knockout victories, also planned to fight in June but pushed back his comeback to July or August. The Mexican boxing warrior has already expressed interest in facing Cotto, who is reportedly planning to move back to the welterweight decision in the final fights of his career.

Reacting to Cotto’s decision to move his return date, Marquez said that it makes the fight against the Puerto Rican more appealing to him because both of them will be coming off a long layoff.

“For me his postponement is good, because he would have a year of inactivity and for me I would have two years and some month,” Marquez said via BoxingScene. “It’s about pride, about show who is the best. Fights between Mexico and Puerto Rico have been huge and this would not be the exception. It would be a great fight that fans will enjoy.”

Marquez has not fought since scoring a unanimous decision win against Mike Alvarado in May 2014. The 42-year-old had several comeback attempts over the past several months but is still testing out his ailing knees.

Do you think the Juan Manuel Marquez vs Miguel Cotto fight will happen this year?