The mystery of who will be Miguel Cotto's final opponent might just be resolved.
Still scheduled to fight on December 2 in New York on HBO, Cotto is reportedly going to fight former welterweight title challenger Sadam Ali. ESPN's Dan Rafael said sources with knowledge of the situation that the fight has been agreed upon and Cotto would be defending his WBO junior middleweight title. Ali is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, same as Cotto, who signed his deal earlier this year to set up his last fight against Yoshihiro Kamegai.
Ali is 25-1 as a pro boxer with his lone loss coming from last year when he was defeated by Jessie Vargas. That fight was for the then-vacant WBO welterweight title. Since the loss, he has won his last four fights, capturing the WBA International welterweight title. His last fight was in July, when he beat Johan Perez.
A number of boxers had publicly expressed interest in fighting Cotto, including David Lemieux, Mikey Garcia, Sergio Mora and Antonio Margarito. Lemieux was reportedly in deep negotiations to fight Cotto, but that deal, as well as deals with Garcia and Vargas, fell through.
Cotto won his title back in August when he beat Kamegai on HBO. The only Puerto Rican man to have won world titles in four different boxing weight classes, Cotto has repeatedly said that 2017 will be his final year as an active boxer. This upcoming fight would mark the end of a Hall of Fame-caliber career that started in 2001.