By Miguel Rivera
Freddie Roach, trainer of WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs), is not impressed with the pay-per-view numbers of IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs).
Golovkin made his pay-per-view debut last month in a title unification against David Lemuiex at Madison Square Garden in New York City. There was a lot of promotion by HBO. The figure of 150,000 pay-per-view purchases created a very mixed reaction in the boxing industry. Many saw the figure as a disappointment and others felt it was a respectable figure for a pay-per-view debut.
Cotto returns on November 21st at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, where he defends his world title against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
The World Boxing Council has ordered the Cotto-Canelo winner to face Golovkin in a mandatory defense.
Roach actually spoke with Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, and told him that a Cotto-Golovkin fight would happen when GGG was able to raise his profile and his pay-per-view figures.
"[The fight] is possible. However, I have to say that some time ago in Santa Fe Springs I met Abel Sanchez and we discussed the possibility of a Cotto-Golovkin fight. He said to me, 'Well you have the last word to give the okay on that fight. And I said, if you manage to raise your numbers to make a good pay per view - it can be done," Roach told Rigo Cervantez.
"Because the reality is this, GGG is not that well known in the United States. He is a great fighter, I have no doubt about that and certainly it would be very difficult fight for Miguel. But for me, I like challenges and I would love that fight to happen."
Based on their catch-weight demands alone, it's doesn't appear likely that Golovkin was going to face Cotto or Canelo in the first half of 2016.
If the winner refuses to fight Golovkin next, the belt will become vacant and the WBC will name Golovkin, who has the interim-belt, as their full champion.
