WBA junior middleweight (154 pounds) king Miguel Cotto of Puerto Rico will forgo a December bout with either Puerto Rican-born former two-time titlist Kermit Cintron of Houston or unbeaten Armenian-born prospect Vanes Martirosyan of Glendale, Calif., instead opting for a ring return in early 2011, fanhouse reported.

Cotto (35-2, 28 knockouts) had considered Cintron (32-3-1, 28 KOs) or Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs) as replacements for Cotto's original opponent, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (40-0-1, 30 KOs) of Mexico, who is now been considered for potential bouts opposite New Jersey resident Pawel Wolak (27-1, 17 KOs) or, possibly Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2, 11 KOs) on Dec. 4.

"With the departure of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Miguel knew that the other potential candidates were not on the same scale. They did not meet Miguel's expectations, and he understood that it was best to take the rest of the year off and then return at some point during the first couple of months of 2011," Cotto's legal adviser, Gabriel Penagaricano, told BoxingScene.com.

"Miguel would prefer to wait for an attractive fight," said Penagaricano. "Unless there is a super-attractive fight, which we don't foresee at this time, then we don't see Miguel fighting until 2011."

Penagaricano denied widespread reports that Cotto's decision was based on his recent right shoulder surgery which took place in August.