By Carlos Boogs

Negotiations are underway for a fall showdown between middleweight champions Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (35-0, 32KOs) and Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (35-0, 32KOs).

The World Boxing Council ordered the boxers to face each other in the fall and discussions between the two sides began a few days ago.  They have a very short window to reach a deal, because WBC has set a purse bid for May 24th in Mexico City.

Golovkin, who holds the IBO/WBA/IBF middleweight belts, is the mandatory challenger to Canelo's WBC championship.

One of the stumbling blocks in making the contest, at least in the past, was Canelo's insistence to fight at a catch-weight of 155-pounds.

Following Saturday's knockout of Amir Khan in Las Vegas, Canelo said a fight with Golovkin at the full middleweight limit of 160 was 'not a problem' - but many observers are still not convinced by his statement, as Canelo called for a fight with Golovkin last year, but then requested more time and went forward with a fight against Khan.

Canelo and his team have been very firm with their position of fighting at 155, and Golovkin is very firm on fighting him at nothing short of the division limit.

During these ongoing negotiations, one side will have to budge on the weight debate. Regardless of who wins the purse bid, the WBC's rules clearly call for the 160 limit. If Canelo refuses to go forward with the fight, then he will lose the fight WBC title and Golovkin will be named champion.

Canelo's last five fights have taken place at 155.

"Canelo always says 'oh, I'm middleweight champion, but I need 155.' What? He knows it's 160, it's not correct. It's not respect to boxing. It's not respect to fans. Last fight with Khan, this was two divisions down. This is not respect, this is business fight," Golovkin told Power 106 in Los Angeles.

"Everyone understands that he needs a true middleweight fighter, at 160. [Canelo has] never been [in the ring with] a middleweight fighter. Cotto is a small guy. Kirkland is a small guy. Right now he's middleweight champion, c'mon. Everyone needs a unification fight in the middleweight division to [see] who's number one in the middleweight division."

Golovkin's promoter, Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions, is feeling a very positive vibe at the moment and has positive expectations about the fight actually happening this year.

"Before the fight [with Khan] I wasn't so convinced, but after that knockout over Khan, and then all the fan pressure and media pressure.......and I think [Golden Boy Promotions President] Oscar [De La Hoya] and Canelo both understand how big of a fight it can be. And the bigger the fight the easier it is to make," Loeffler said.

"There are no issues. With Mayweather-Pacquiao there were so many issues like the [drug] testing, the TV networks. With [Canelo and Golovkin] everything is the same. They even have the same beer sponsor, Tecate. There are no issues on that side, it's just about working out the details."