The boxing world wants to see Miguel Cotto, the new WBC middleweight champion fight either Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin in his next fight. Unfortunately, their wants won't be tended to until 2015, according to Top Rank CEO Bob Arum.
A fight with Alvarez is more likely than Golovkin for several reasons; Canelo is a bigger attraction, and that means more money for Cotto. Second, while both are formidable opponents, Golovkin is a natural middleweight with truly devastating power at 160 lbs. Cotto is a natural welterweight who has settled in nicely as a junior middleweight; he was able to defeat former middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, but he had passed the age of 40 and was coming off multiple injuries.
Canelo, Golovkin are 2015 options for Cotto
Both Cotto and Alvarez plan to fight again before the calendar switches to 2015, but Arum has flatly stated they won't meet that soon. "Canelo is not an option for now, but honestly a fight in May is likely to be done," he told Deportes.Univision.com.
Alvarez's trainer Chepo Reynoso also nixed a Canelo-Cotto clash this year when he spoke with BoxingScene.com. "Everyone wants to see Canelo go against Cotto, but if it doesn't happen his career will still go forward," Reynoso said. "It will definitely not happen this year, but sooner or later we will see their faces meet."
James Kirkland willing to face Cotto or Canelo
Some names that have heated up for Canelo and Cotto are James Kirkland and Andy Lee. Kirkland has been linked to both Alvarez and Cotto, but Lee seems more likely for Cotto since he's one of the top middleweights in the world now. Lee fought on Cotto's June 7 undercard and knocked out John Jackson, who had been ahead of Lee on the scorecards before a one-punch knockout ended the night.
Kirkland would be an interesting opponent for Alvarez; out-of-ring problems have frequently slowed his rise, but he is a frightening puncher that will be willing to stand and trade with Alvarez. That is when Canelo looks best, and he's got the type of power that can also hurt Kirkland.
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