Cotto may not be next on Mayweather’s list

LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. has a two-fight streak of involving himself in mega-bouts that have helped lead a renaissance of sorts for boxing.

While a showdown with fellow unbeaten welterweight champion Miguel Cotto would keep that super-fight momentum running, some of the sport’s old matchmaking obstacles have emerged.

Minutes after his electrifying 10th-round technical knockout victory over previously unbeaten Ricky Hatton on Saturday, Mayweather (39-0, 25 knockouts) threatened for the second time in two years to retire at the peak of his reign as boxing’s pound-for-pound king.

“Just to be the face of boxing is a blessing, but I have to walk away,” Mayweather said late Saturday night. “I was once told never to let boxing retire you.”

Mayweather admitted his statement has the long-attached asterisk of, “If they give me a price I can’t resist . . .”

But another roadblock could be that Mayweather and Cotto’s veteran promoter, Bob Arum, had an ugly split in 2006. Mayweather claimed Arum’s Top Rank promotion company restrained his success, and Arum was left absent from the most lucrative fight in history: A May split-decision victory by Mayweather over Oscar De La Hoya.

Arum’s “a bitter old man because Floyd outsmarted him,” said Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s advisor.

The negotiations for Mayweather-Cotto would be tense at best. Hours before Mayweather repeatedly pounded the hard-charging Hatton at the MGM Grand Garden Arena -- a bout that is expected to make Mayweather the first non-heavyweight in history to net 1 million pay-per-view buys in consecutive fights -- Arum said his former fighter is participating in “the biggest con game ever.”

“If [Mayweather] thinks he has a chance to lose, he won’t take a fight,” Arum said. “He’s afraid to lose, and that’s a horrible, horrible thing. . . . Anyone who’s not realizing that’s what’s happening with Floyd is moronic.”

Cotto (31-0, 25 knockouts) is poised to earn fighter-of-the-year honors after defending his World Boxing Assn. title against former champions Zab Judah and Pomona’s “Sugar” Shane Mosley, who lost to Cotto by unanimous decision in November. Arum says he’s willing to separate animosity from business, but predicted a Mayweather-Cotto bout would “never” happen. Cotto urged diplomacy: “If you want to fight, put your troubles with a person aside.

“If you ask Floyd to fight with me, he always has an excuse,” Cotto said. “I’m not attracting enough fans. I don’t represent too much money. He’s not correct, though. He knows who Miguel Cotto is.”

Ellerbe indeed pointed to Cotto’s 360,000 pay-per-view buys against Mosley as a perceived weakness in the other champion’s national name recognition.

“A lot of people will be asking, ‘Who is he?’ ” Ellerbe said. “He’s a very good fighter, a warrior, but not enough people know him.”

Alternatives could be a rematch with De La Hoya, Mayweather not so subtly noted, or accepting the Saturday night challenge of former three-division champion Mosley.

If Mayweather-Cotto can’t be made, boxing industry sources remain confident the welterweight division can still produce compelling, fan-pleasing matches, such as a De La Hoya-Hatton bout in May -- maybe in Dodger Stadium, or in London’s Wembley Stadium.

While De La Hoya wouldn’t completely commit to Hatton after Mayweather’s domination -- “I’m going to absorb this . . . every door is open,” he said -- the boxer’s promotional business partner Richard Schaefer said a bout with the charismatic Hatton remains attractive because “sport is entertainment, and this would be a meeting of the two most popular fighters in the world.”

Arum said he would most likely select a March 8 opponent for Cotto in Puerto Rico if Mayweather talks fail, which could leave Mayweather feeling restrained from success again.

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lance.pugmire@latimes.com