Miguel Cotto, right, takes a left hook to the jaw from Canelo Alvarez in their November 2015 bout in Las Vegas/AP photo by John Locher

Miguel Cotto has not fought since November 2015. But when he returns Aug. 26 to take on Yoshihiro Kamegai of Japan, the two will be tangling for a vacant junior middleweight title at StubHub Center (on HBO).

That’s right. Cotto will have been out of the ring for 21 months, yet he gets a shot at another title upon his return. He’s stoked.

“I’m very excited to be back and showcase a high-level fight for the fans,” Cotto said in a news release distributed by Golden Boy Promotions. “Kamegai is a great, tough fighter. But I will be ready for him, and to capture the world title.”

Cotto (40-5, 33 KOs), of Puerto Rico, is right when he says Kamegai (27-3-2, 24 KOs) is a tough fighter. But Kamegai is anything but great. He comes forward, and offers no defense. But this should be a ring war, which is along the lines of many fights we’ve seen at StubHub.

“I fully understand who I am going to be in the ring against,” Kamegai said. “But Cotto’s record and history won’t matter once we are toe-to-toe.”

Cotto, who has won titles in four weight classes, will be fighting for just the second time in the Southland. He defeated Arturo Rodriguez via second-round knockout in July 2001 at Staples Center underneath the light heavyweight title fight between Roy Jones Jr. and Julio Gonzalez. It was just the sixth fight of Cotto’s career.

Cotto has not fought since losing a wide unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez in a middleweight title fight Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.