Bad Left Hook

It's good to be Miguel Cotto these days. The sport's two biggest money men are both chasing the Puerto Rican star for a fight in May or June, and negotiations with both Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao are heating up.

In a report at BoxingScene.com, weight is said to be the biggest issue. Simply put, Pacquiao won't fight Cotto over 147 pounds, a weight Cotto has not made since his first fight with Pacquiao in November 2009, which was actually a 145-pound catchweight, dictated by Team Pacquiao.

But Mayweather might be willing to meet Cotto at 150. This is what adviser Gabriel Peñagaricano said about the talks:

"The weight was one of the issues discussed. Both fighters [Pacquiao and Cotto] are at different weights and they are separated by a few pounds. We are not pessimistic and we will continue talking. [The Mayweather] fight is entirely feasible. We have also had several conversations with Mayweather's representatives and that is being evaluated. In that case there would be no weight issues."

Cotto (37-2, 30 KO) may not have imagined in December that he would be in this spot in late January, but here he is. The world is his oyster right now. One way or another, he's going to make a major money fight.

You still have to assume that Top Rank and Pacquiao have the inside track. Peñagaricano says that they will meet again with Top Rank, the company that has promoted Miguel Cotto for his entire, 11-year professional career. He does not have a contract with Top Rank, but has made clear that's where his heart still lies, and he's made every indication that he plans to stay loyal to Bob Arum and Todd duBoef.

But what could push Mayweather and his Golden Boy associates over the top is desperation. Manny and Top Rank have a couple of other choices, and if all else fails, Timothy Bradley would give a foot to fight Manny Pacquiao on June 9, and Top Rank promotes Bradley.

Golden Boy has more limited options. Robert Guerrero is not a desired opponent, despite his trying to push himself into the discussion, and Canelo Alvarez may be the current leader, but one gets the impression Golden Boy would prefer to wait on that fight, maybe even until 2013.

That makes Cotto so attractive to their side that they might be willing to pay him more than Top Rank will be willing to pay him. On the Nevada commission pay sheets, Pacquiao has made $6 million each for his last two fights against Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez. Obviously when all was said and done, Manny made more than that, and his reported guarantees for those fights were $20M and $22M.

Realistically, Cotto could make more than that (the $6 million, not the twenties) for a fight with either of these guys right now. Cotto could be looking at anywhere from $7 million to $10 million for either of these fights. When you combine the fact that Cotto is a legitimate star who made a $5 million purse plus pay-per-view bonuses for a much smaller fight with Antonio Margarito with the likelihood that both sides here are desperate to land him, and perhaps even more desperate to not let the other side do so, you're looking at a perfect storm for Miguel Cotto financially.