By Edward Chaykovsky

Last year, Andy Lee (34-2-1, 24KOs) had agreed to face Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (34-0, 31KOs) for the WBA/IBO middleweight titles in an HBO televised main event. The fight never came to pass. It was canceled when Golovkin withdrew due to the unexpected passing of his father.

A few months later Lee landed another title opportunity when he stopped Matt Korobov to capture the vacant WBO middleweight crown.

Golovkin added the IBF title to his collection by stopping David Lemieux two weeks ago.

Now Golovkin is focused on capturing the WBC title. Current champion Miguel Cotto will defend against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Golovkin, in holding the WBC's interim belt, is the mandatory challenger. If the winner refuses to face him, they will be forced to vacate and Golovkin will become the full champion.

If Golovkin is unable to secure Cotto or Canelo, he will turn his attention to the WBO belt.

Lee is defending his title against mandatory challenger Billy Joe Saunders on December 19th in Manchester. If Lee wins, he welcomes the opportunity to unify with Golovkin.

"I want his belts. I like his belts. They look good. Holding the belt and being the champion now, it puts you in a key position. It wasn't that long ago that I was on the outside looking in, but now I'm in the midst of it all - and that's where I want to remain. I'm a tiger for him, but he's a tiger for me too," Lee explained to BoxingScene.com's Declan Taylor.

Unlike most of the top names in the middleweight division, Lee fought Golovkin when the two boxers were amateurs. It was certainly an experience that Lee never forgot.

"I fought him as an amateur. It was a very hard fight. He was a world [amateur] champion and I was an 18-year-old kid and had no clue who he was. I definitely got a rude awakening, but things have changed. That was 14-years ago. We're both men now and physically matured," Lee said.

"In terms of Golovkin, he's a great fighter. He's beaten everybody and he's done it impressively. But he's never fought anybody with my stature, my height, my stance and my power. I punch as hard if not harder than him, so we'll wait and see. We'll see what happens when he fights a banger like me."