Cotto's out, Pacquiao eyes Bradley, Marquez

With three-division titlewinner Miguel Cotto having removed himself as a possible opponent, Manny Pacquiao is left with potential rematches against Tim Bradley or Juan Manuel Marquez.

Cotto (37-3, 30 knockouts) has elected to face WBA "regular" junior middleweight titleholder Austin Trout on Dec. 1 at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The scenario has Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) looking at a second fight with Bradley or a fourth match opposite Marquez on Nov. 10 or Dec. 1 or 8, according to the boxer's advisor, Michael Koncz.

 "Manny and I just wish him luck in his fight," said Koncz..“Cotto’s got the right to make his own decisions, and for whatever reason, he’s decided to go and fight the WBA champion, and there’s nothing that we can do about it."

Cotto had sandwiched three straight knockout victories between being stopped by Pacquiao in the 12th round in November of 2010, and losing a unanimous-decision to five-division, eight-belt title-winner Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May.

Bradley (29-0, 12 KOs) defeated Pacquiao by controversial split-decision in June   for the WBO's 147-pound belt, ending Pacquiao's 15-bout winning streak that included eight stoppages.

Marquez (54-6-1, 39 KOs) has lost by disputed majority decision in November to Pacquiao as well as by a draw and a split-decision loss previously.

Marquez bounced back from the loss to Pacquiao with April's unanimous decision over Sergei Fedchenko for the WBO's interim junior welterweight belt, which has since been "upgraded" by the organization to full title status.

"We’re still in negotiations with both camps," said Koncz. "But I won’t make a public comment because I don’t want to negotiate the purses in the press."

Photo by Chris Farina, Top Rank Inc.

Lem Satterfield can be reached at lemuel.satterfield@gmail.com