Are Gennady Golovkin and Miguel Cotto on a collision course in 2016?
Such is a possibility, although a lot hinges on the turnout of their respective matches.
The Puerto Rican boxing champ will be defending his title against Mexican fighter Saúl "Canelo" Álvarez at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Nov. 21, while the Kazakh destroyer will face David Lemieux at the Madison Square Garden in New York on Oct. 17.
While the Cotto vs. Álvarez tiff is turning out to be a toss-up, Golovkin is a heavy favorite over Lemieux, apparently, because of his record (33–0, 30 coming via knockout).
Lemieux, the current International Boxing Federation (IBF) middleweight champion is, of course, no pushover and is confident heading into the Oct. 17 tiff.
Canada held an open to the public media work out at the historic Forum in Montreal on Wednesday
"Golovkin has not faced a fighter like me before. I am an aggressive fighter and I am confident in my abilities. I feel that I will be successful on Oct. 17," said Lemieux during an organized work out session that was open to media and fans in Montreal last Wednesday.
Whatever happens in that one may have a bearing since the WBO has already ordered a mandatory fight between the winner of both fights.
While Golovkin did pick Álvarez over Cotto for the Nov. 21 match, Cotto's trainer Freddie Roach seems confident that his boy will come out victorious.
Add to that the fact that he is looking forward to seeing Cotto meet Golovkin in case both fighters pull through.
Roach is confident that he and Cotto can expose the flaws of Golovkin and it seems that the legendary trainer could care less about talks that Cotto would be requiring a catchweight.
"No [Golovkin is not too big]. I like the fight. I don't like catch-weights. I've already made that public in my life that I don't like catch-weights. I would like for him to fight Triple G next," says Roach via BoxingScene.com.
He adds, "I don't think he's invincible. I know it's a hard fight, I know he's a good puncher and I know all that. But I think it's a very good fight for the fans and for everyone in the world — so I would like to see it."
Cotto will, of course, have the last say on the catch-weight issue, but it seems that Roach is pretty confident that the Puerto Rican can manage.
Before that, however, they need to take care of Álvarez first and then think of Golovkin next — should the latter win over Lemieux.
