By Steve Kim

On October 17th at the Madison Square Garden in New York, a middleweight unification bout between WBA/IBO champion Gennady Golovkin and IBF belt-holder David Lemieux takes place. Then on November 21st, WBC champion Miguel Cotto faces Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas inside the Mandalay Bay.

The WBC has ordered that based on Golovkin's status as their 'interim champion' - the winners of these two fights must fight next.

When asked about this, Alvarez said at the opening stage of the press tour to promote Cotto-Canelo on Monday afternoon Los Angeles responded (through Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions V.P.):

"Obviously this was something that was mandated and then we'll take it serious. We'll look at it and we'll see. But right now I'm just thinking about this fight. This is my next fight and after this fight we'll deal with it. If that's what it is, then we'll see it. I'm not afraid of anyone."

As for Cotto, he stated - "I'm always open to every fight, the best opponents." He added,"If it's in the best interest for me,I'm going for that."

But first things first. We have to get through the actual fights and see how they play out.

"Look, obviously we have to see what's going to happen in the ring. What if there's a draw? What if it's such a great fight that the fans are demanding another fight? What if there's another trilogy?" said Oscar De La Hoya, going through various scenarios.

"You never know what's going to happen but obviously we respect the best organization in the world today and that's the WBC so we would have to sit down and discuss every possibility, every scenario that can take place on November 21st."

Mauricio Sulaiman, the head of the WBC, believes that all the participants of these upcoming bouts will go through with their edict.

"I think so, I am sure,"he said on Monday."We have to understand all four fighters must be under a lot of pressure, they need to concentrate on what they're doing right now until the next fight. Both 'Canelo' and Cotto became champions through the WBC rules, the exact same rules that we have ordered so I am sure once everything settles down, the fights happen, we will have a great new coming year, great fights and I'm sure both will comply."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.