Miguel Cotto does not agree with the notion that he's "ducking" Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, the WBA and IBO middleweight champion with 20 straight knockouts that's been calling him out since last year. As Cotto prepares for a fight on Saturday vs. former middleweight champion Daniel Geale, which he is heavily favored to win, his trainer Freddie Roach explained the reluctance to face Golovkin.
"(Golovkin) still doesn't bring enough to the table. He doesn't sell any PPV's. So you're fighting a tough guy for no money. It's just business," Roach said while saying the biggest possible fight for Cotto is against Canelo Alvarez.
Fighting Geale remains confusing then, because Cotto dragged his feet on a potential pay per view vs. Alvarez in May. Alvarez, frustrated, closed up shop on the talks and instead earned an electric knockout of James Kirkland that boosted his stock tremendously.
At the final press conference before the Geale fight, Cotto met questions head on about why he was fighting someone that appears to be overmatched. Despite not being a natural middleweight, Cotto has been installed as a -600 favorite to win.
"Alvarez had his moment to shine against Mayweather," Cotto said. "Everybody knows what happened there (losing by a majority decision). Golovkin is a guy who never faced, in my opinion, a Class A opponent, and people still asking for those kinds of fights. Miguel Cotto has been here for 14 years, facing everybody and it's the time for Daniel Geale. After Saturday, we'll see what happens next in my career."
The argument Cotto used about Golovkin's level of opposition is beginning to have holes. Golovkin has been willing to fight-and make contractual concessions-for a fight against a big name but still hasn't gotten a nibble. He's also stepped up his competition, recently knocking out Martin Murray and defeating a former champion in Marco Antonio Rubio.
If Cotto does win Saturday, it's likely he will face Alvarez even though Golovkin is his mandatory challenger. For the WBC to sanction the fight though, both Cotto and Alvarez will likely have to guarantee Golovkin they will fight him next.
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