by David P. Greisman

April 26 was originally supposed to be the day that middleweight titleholder Gennady Golovkin would fight next, potentially against Andy Lee.

Golovkin will not be fighting then, however, due to the recent death of his father. Yet with HBO still seeking to broadcast on that date, promoter Lou DiBella is hoping that the network will pick up a bout between Lee and another DiBella middleweight, Matthew Macklin.

Both fighters posted on Twitter about wanting to face each other, and they looked toward their collision potentially being on the undercard of the June 7 pay-per-view featuring a DiBella fighter, Sergio Martinez, against Miguel Cotto.

DiBella said that won’t be possible, though, writing on Twitter that Cotto’s promotional company will have the co-feature on the June 7 pay-per-view, and that the budget for the opening bouts on the show is “not meaningful.”

“Cotto/Martinez undercard on June 7 will be excellent,” DiBella wrote. “It just won’t have Macklin vs. Lee on it.”

As for April 26, Golovkin’s promoter, K2 Promotions, has a hold on Madison Square Garden in New York City for the date and will look into what to do with it. One option could be working with other promoters.

Macklin, 31, was knocked out with a body shot by Golovkin last June, then returned in December with a unanimous decision win over Lamar Russ. He is 30-5 with 20 knockouts.

Lee, 29, has won three straight since his June 2012 stoppage loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. His last appearance was in November, a quick win over Ferenc Hafner that brought his record to 31-2 (22 KOs).

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