Miguel Cotto, whose talks with Canelo Alvarez for a possible May 2 fight have fallen apart, has yet to schedule an opponent for his next fight. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is viewed as an option if his own talks with Manny Pacquiao amount to nothing, but WBA and IBO champion Gennady "GGG" Golovkin is hoping that doesn't happen.
"I hope that it happens next, this is the fight that I want," Golovkin said of facing Cotto. "This would be a very good fight for the fans, for television. I said that I want a pay-per-view fight this year. I want fights like Cotto, Canelo, Chavez. Cotto is the WBC champion. I want to get all of the titles at middleweight, so of course I want this fight to happen."
Golovkin must defend his two belts on February 21 against Martin Murray, but he's been installed as a heavy favorite (-2,500) to win that bout. The unbeaten Golovkin has knocked out 18 straight opponents, and become arguably the most popular fighter in the sport among hardcore enthusiasts.
His last fight vs. Marco Antonio Rubio at the Stubhub Center in California sold out in record time and required additional seating to meet the demand. Outside of boxing circles though, the Kazakh remains low-profile.
His quality of opposition is rising--Daniel Geale is a former champion, and opponents like Rubio and Curtis Stevens are quality middleweights--but he hasn't taken down the type of high-profile foe that can get him to the next level. Opponents like Cotto represent that opportunity, but he has become one of the most avoided fighters in the sport too because of his knockout power. The threat plus the risk isn't adding up for the superstar fighters.
Other names for Cotto include Timothy Bradley and Brandon Rios, although those fights are unlikely to take place at 160 pounds if they get made. After Murray, Golovkin's next target date is May 16.
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