Work underway on first of three ‘Canelo’ Alvarez fights in 2014

On the heels of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez announcing he intends to fight three times in 2014, his promoter Tuesday began to initiate talks to arrange the first bout.

Golden Boy Promotions Chief Executive Richard Schaefer said he has scheduled a meeting in the near future with former three-division world champion Miguel Cotto for a March 8 fight against Alvarez.

Schaefer also said he had a preliminary discussion with MGM Resorts executive Richard Sturm and could seal the deal for Alvarez’s bout to be at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

For Alvarez (42-1-1, 30 knockouts), the bout will mark his return from his disappointing majority decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Sept. 14 at MGM Grand.

Cotto (38-4, 31 KOs) dropped a unanimous decision to Mayweather in 2012, then looked done after a December loss to Austin Trout before returning far sharper in a third-round knockout of Delvin Rodriguez in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 5.

Cotto is now trained by Freddie Roach in Hollywood.

Schaefer said he discussed those developments and others while meeting with Alvarez in San Diego on Tuesday.

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