Marquez’s last fight was against Mike Alvarado in May 2014 at The Forum in Inglewood, California which he won via a unanimous decision.
BobArum, who promotes Marquez in collaboration with Fernando Beltran of Zanfer Promotions said he has conferred with Beltran about scheduling Marquez’ return fight.
“Marquez said he wanted a tune-up fight and then he’d like to fight Cotto,” Arum told ESPN.. “So we are talking to Fernando about arranging a tune-up fight for him in the early summer.” he added.
Marquez is bent on securing a fight against Cotto because he believes the fight would be win-win situation for the two of them. He also said they will have to agree on the weight because there is a big disparity in their natural weight.
“I spoke to his agent, who is Peñagarícano. We had a conversation where I said yes I would be interested to fight Cotto, but first we want to make a tune-up fight because we know that inactivity is an important point in the career of a fighter,” Marquez said.
“If they want to do the fight, it would have to be at welterweight and have a clause where he can not rise above 152,153 pounds the following day. To me that’s an important point. I’m not a natural welterweight and that would help me a lot, because there would be little difference in the weight [on the day of the fight],” he added.
“I think the [fight is a] win-win for both fighters. If you win, then you win over a great fighter. And if you lose, then you also lose to a great fighter. It doesn’t hurt [your career and legacy,” he said.
Marquez, who turns 42 on August 23, rose to stardom when he knocked out perennial rival Manny Pacquiao in the closing seconds of the sixth round of their title fight in 2012 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Mexican boxing hero has yet to disclose the name of the opponent for his planned tune-up fight.
