Miguel Cotto has a three-fight deal with Roc Nation Sports, with his first fight expected to happen at Madison Square Garden in June. Cornelius "K-9" Bundrage is the leading candidate for the bout, but he may have been swiped away by Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, and placed into a bout vs. Timothy Bradley.
If so, Cotto reportedly has a list of backup candidates, and the name value of the opponent chosen will determine whether his next fight is on pay-per-view or not.
"I have a date on June 6 and right now we are evaluating the options and we'll see which is the best opponent for that date," Cotto said recently. "I will speak with Freddie and we will choose the best name. I do not know who it may be but I expect it to be for the title. It all depends on how big the opponent will be and that will define whether it will be a pay-per-view or not."
The top candidate if Bundrage fights Bradley is Jorge Sebastien Heiland, another fighter in Cotto manager Gaby Penagaricao's stable, He has won his last four fights, the biggest of which was a November 2014 knockout victory over veteran Matthew Macklin in Ireland.
Heiland stopped Macklin in Round 10. All four of his latest wins were by knockout or TKO.
If Heiland is the choice, the fight almost certainly will not be on pay-per-view. Heiland has four losses on his record already, and has very little, if any, name value in the United States. Heiland's 10 fights prior to taking on Macklin in Ireland were staged in Argentina, and hasn't ever fought in the U.S.
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