James Kirkland offered fight with Miguel Cotto on June 18 in Brooklyn on HBO PPV

Both men are coming off a loss to Canelo Alvarez. Now, they could turn to face each other.

James Kirkland was recently offered a fight with Miguel Cotto, the fighter's manager, Michael Miller, confirmed to Paste BN Sports. Cotto is set to fight on June 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. on HBO Pay-Per-View and has been searching for an opponent.

There originally were talks for a catchweight bout against Ruslan Provodnikov and there were whispers Juan Manuel Marquez was in the mix. But "The Siberian Rocky" could be headed to a fight with Terence Crawford and JMM, who last fought almost two years ago, said he would want a tune-up bout. Enter Kirkland.

"I am working with Eric Gomez from Golden Boy on an offer for James Kirkland to fight Miguel Cotto on June 18 at the Barclays Center," Miller said in a text message. "I feel James has a real chance to beat the legendary future Hall of Fame fighter. If the fight, is made it promises to be a barn burner and potential fight of the year."

And that's why Kirkland is an intriguing choice - he always delivers action. His three-round bout with Canelo in May was exhilarating for as long as it lasted. What makes Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) so much fun to watch is that he's equally as dangerous with his big punch as his chin is vulnerable.

He's a topsy-turvy fight, and you never know if he's going to flip the odds. Against Cotto, he would be an underdog for sure, especially with how inactive Kirkland has been. He's promoted by 50 Cent, but Golden Boy has options on him stemming from the Canelo bout.

The 31-year-old native of Austin, Texas, was in talks to face Gabriel Rosado in December, but the fight fell apart after Kirkland demanded more money, something he's done before.

His career-best victory was a thrilling stoppage of Alfredo Angulo in 2011 in which both fighters hit the deck in Round 1. Since then, Kirkland has fought just three times.

Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs) hasn't been much busier, but he did enjoy a career resurgence. After a 2012 defeat to Austin Trout, the Puerto Rican was written off by media and fans as a finished fighter. But a union with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach changed everything, and Cotto went on to capture the middleweight championship with a sterling performance against a hobbled Sergio Martinez.

Cotto, 35, defended the title successfully with a knockout of Daniel Geale in June, but was then upended by Canelo during their November super fight which generated 900,000 PPV buys.

Cotto-Kirkland is an interesting matchup, but it's a hard sell on pay-per-view with both men coming off a loss. Cotto's contract with Roc Nation Sports calls for big guaranteed purses, though, and PPV is still the best model to maximize revenue.

(Photo of Kirkland, left, by Troy Taormina-Paste BN Sports)