Rubio, 34, is again waiting for his opportunity to fight for the title after working his way into a mandatory position, echoing his two-year wait when Chavez himself was WBC champion a few years back.
On that occasion, Rubio was bypassed by Chavez until he eventually lost out via a unanimous decision in late 2012, but the Mexican has since won six straight bouts, five of which were inside schedule. The final victory of those six was against Domenico Spada, in which Rubio took the interim belt and a certain passage to fight for the full green strap. That puts Cotto in the firing line as stipulated by the WBC and Rubio has every intention of making him fulfil his obligation.
Cotto is known to be evaluating his options at 160 as he is predominantly a light-middleweight, and could well vacate if a huge pay-per-view offering cannot be made at the higher weight. That’s where Chavez comes in, but the talented fighter hasn’t made 160 for almost two years and is said to completely struggle in any attempts to reach the weight limit he once used to dominate.
In order to battle it out with Cotto is what would be a mouth-watering battle, Chavez would have to be able to make middleweight again, although straight-talking Rubio believes that any attempts to make the fight would be a non-starter.
“It’s a joke,” Rubio told World Boxing News. ‘No way Jose’ like they say in my country as Cotto is a 155 lber and Chavez 175 – there is just no way!
“I can’t believe some sports press experts really believe that just because Chavez Sr. asked Cotto at a party in Cancun if he was willing to fight his son, and he obviously answered ‘yes’ – that the fight will happen. Let’s be realistic, it won’t happen.
“Anyway, my attorney and an arbitration judge have assured me that I am next for Cotto and I will be pushing for my shot as soon as possible,” he added.
Another Mexican v Puerto Rico encounter between Canelo Alvarez and Cotto has also been touted among the continued speculation, but could lead to Rubio pushing to have ‘Junito’ stripped if negotiations don’t begin soon.
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