By Jake Donovan

As it turns out, the World middleweight championship will be contested by the best two super welterweights in the world.

Miguel Cotto and Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez are locked in for what is already being regarded as the most anticipated event on the remainder of the 2015 boxing schedule. The two will collide on November 21 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, with HBO Pay-Per-View to distribute.

The bout will be contested at a maximum catchweight of 155 lbs., despite the World middleweight title being at stake, a division with a maximum limit of 160 lbs. This will be the third straight for Cotto above the super welterweight limit, but with all three fights taking place at an agreed-upon catchweight rather than just at the super welterweight (154 lbs.) or middleweight limit (160 lbs.).

Alvarez—whom many consider the most popular active fighter from Mexico—will enter his fifth straight fight at a weight outside the parameters of a traditional division, dating back to his 12-round loss to Floyd Mayweather. Their Sept. '13 clash - which at the time served as the most lucrative event in boxing history - took place at a maximum weight of 152 lbs.

The upcoming showdown with Cotto will mark his fourth straight at a weight just above the super welterweight limit. His most recent catchweight fight—also his most recent ring appearance—marked a triumphant return to the HBO family. Alvarez lit up James Kirkland in three rounds in front of a packed house at Minute Maid Park in Houston, a fight that served as the most watched cable TV fight in nine years, drawing more than 2 million home viewers.

The need for a catchweight between the fighters always appeared to be more of a negotiating ploy, as neither will ever come close to hitting the middleweight limit. In fact, both readily admit to being much more comfortable one division below.

"Right now my focus is on Miguel Cotto, not really on what weight I will fight next," Alvarez (45-1-1, 32KOs) mentioned when asked of the chances of his eventually moving up to middleweight during a recent conference call following the formal announcement of the event. "I will say, though, that I feel very comfortable in my current division at super welterweight, but we will see what the future holds."

What the future could very well hold for the winner is a date with unbeaten middleweight titlist Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, who is also the mandatory challenger to the alphabet title currently in Cotto's possession. The terms of this fight being made were that the winner would have to next face the fearsome knockout artist from Kazakhstan.

It remains to be seen if that actually comes to fruition, or if Golovkin—who has his own big fight ahead as he faces fellow titlist David Lemieux on October 17 at Madison Square Garden in New York City—will have to settle for step-aside money and eventually a vacant belt when all is said and done.

As for Cotto, his entire middleweight run has made it clear where the fighting pride of Caguas, Puerto Rico will land for his remaining days as a prizefighter.

"The deal with (former middleweight titlist Daniel) Geale was a catchweight of 157 lbs.; I made 153," Cotto noted of his most recent ring appearance, destroying Geale in four rounds to help set up the November showdown with Alvarez.

Getting to the championship was a similar development.

"The (Sergio) Martinez fight was a 159 lb. catchweight; I was 155," Cotto said of the historic win last June, stopping Martinez after nine one-sided rounds to become the first-ever fighter from Puerto Rico to claim championships in four weight classes. "I'm not a real middleweight in size. I'm closer to being a true super welterweight."

Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox