By Edward Chaykovsky
Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is going to end the year in a very big way.
The two biggest stars in his stable, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and David Lemieux, are going to be involved in major HBO pay-per-view matchups.
Canelo will challenge Miguel Cotto for the WBC middleweight title, likely on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Lemieux will stake his IBF title against Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin, who has the WBA/IBO titles, in a unification clash on October 17th at New York's Madison Square Garden.
De La Hoya would like to see the winners of the two matches collide in 2016. In order for De La Hoya to be involved, at least one of his fighters would have to win. If Cotto and Golovkin come out on top, Golden Boy would be shut out. Cotto is promoted by Roc Nation Sports and Golovkin by K2 Promotions.
The World Boxing Council will order the two winners to face each other, because Golovkin (who holds the WBC interim title) is the mandatory challenger to Cotto. If Lemieux wins in October, he would then become the mandatory challenger to the Cotto-Canelo winner.
"That's the beauty of making these types of fights. When we match up Gennady Golovkin against Lemieux, we're also thinking about Miguel Cotto and Canelo. Can they fight each other? Can you do a round robin? Can you do a tournament? This is what boxing is all about. The best fighting the best. Who better than Golden Boy Promotions to give the fans their money's worth. If it is up to me, and it is up to me, it will happen [the winners facing each other]," De La Hoya said in the ESPN studios in Los Angeles.