A clash between two of the brightest stars in the 140 pound division could be a possibility for June 10th in New York city. Top Rank President Todd duBoef said during today's  conference call that they would be beginning negotiations with Lou DiBella (Malignaggi's promoter) next week for a possible fight between Miguel Cotto and Paulie Malignaggi. duBoef said that Cotto plans on fighting in New York City again on June 10th, during the Puerto Rican Day festival, like he did last year against Ricardo Torres.

    The fight would pit Cotto, who has a huge following in New York city against Malignaggi who is also local, hailing from Brooklyn. The fight would be a huge step up for the 21-0 Malignaggi, but certainly a fight that would create a whole lot of buzz in New York city. duBoef said that Cotto's next fight will be on the 10th, and if negotiations go well it will be against Malignaggi. duBoef also stated that Cotto will fight one more time in 2006, sometime in the fall, and hopes to have Cotto fight one of the big names in the division at that time. Some of the names mentioned were Ricky Hatton, Jose Luis Castillo, and Floyd Mayweather. duBoef also stated that Cotto will probably fight 2-3 more times at 140 pounds.

    Cotto has been in the United States in Deerfield, Florida training for his March 4th bout with Gianluca Branco that will take place in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He has been sparring with the likes of Kid Diamond and Vince Phillips. Cotto and duBoef were busy talking with the press on Wednesday during a conference call to discuss Cotto's March 4th bout, and their vision of what lies ahead for Cotto in 2006.

    Here's a little bit of what Cotto had to say about his upcoming fight with Branco:

-On getting up off the canvas to beat Ricardo Torres- I go out there to fight, and you're going to get hit. In this last fight I took some shots, but I showed that I can take a shot and come back from it.

-On his fight with Branco being on the same day as Jeff Lacy-Joe Calzaghe- People will have a choice, there's an opportunity for all of us to get exposure. I'm just going out there to do my job.

-On when he plans to move up in weight- I can make it for my next 2 or 3 fights, and then I'll move up to 147.

-On how it's been training outside of Puerto Rico for the first time- It's been good, but it has been tough not seeing my family and kids on a daily basis.

-On why he started boxing- I wanted to do something, and I wanted to lose weight. Once I started it, I liked it.

2-22-2006