Canelo-Cotto
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez said he is not ready to fight WBA, IBF, IBO middleweight champ Gennady Golovkin at 160 pounds. Reuters/Edgard Garrido

The World Boxing Council (WBC) has mandated the winner of next month’s bout between WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to face World Boxing Association, International Boxing Federation, International Boxing Organisation middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin early next year. While Cotto and Canelo are both focused on their upcoming clash at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on Nov. 21, the two sluggers seem to have different takes in a possible matchup against boxing’s rising star.

Cotto, who is set to defend his WBC middleweight belt against Canelo, has opened to negotiations in fighting Golovkin if the former wins next month. According to Cotto’s trainer Freddie Roach, Cotto vs Golovkin will be a big fight, but the seven-time Boxing Writers Association Trainer of the Year winner admitted there will be several negotiations before it could happen.

“It's a big fight, but there's a lot of negotiations to go on after that,” Roach told SB Nation’s Bad Left Hook . “It's not going to happen automatically, but negotiations will hopefully begin."

Cotto has already told in past interviews that he will have his opponents subject to catchweight stipulations. The Puerto Rican’s bout against Canelo is at a catchweight of 155 pounds, just 1 pound more from the junior middleweight limit. His past three fights, where he won two matches via TKO, ranges from 154-158 pounds catchweights. With Golovkin, who has never fought bellow 158.5 pounds, dwelling at the 160-pound middleweight limit, Cotto could embrace the opportunity of facing the undefeated Kazakh at a catchweight between 155-160 pounds.

Canelo, on the other hand, has recently fought at catchweights of 154.5-155 pounds. However, in his 2013 victory over Austin Trout at a catchweight of a little over 153 pounds, Canelo rehydrated of up to 172 pounds in fight night, which suggests the former WBC and WBA middleweight titlist could be ready for Golovkin at full middleweight limit. However, Canelo seems to back out of fighting the Kazakh champ at 160, believing that he is only match-made at 155.

"At this moment, my body isn't ready for 160 pounds,” Canelo told SB Nation’s Bloody Elbow. “Maybe 1 or 2 more years I'll be ready for 160, I don't know, but I'd be delighted to fight someone like Gennady.”

While the WBC has ordered a mandatory title defence for the winner of Cotto-Canelo bout, catchweight stipulations will certainly be a problem for these three fighters. According to Boxing Scene , Golovkin has stated earlier this week that he has no plans of trimming off any pounds when it comes to unification titles, insisting that the middleweight division is where he is “comfortable” at.

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