By Radio Rahim
The World Boxing Council has mandated the winners of the upcoming high profile middleweight fights to face each other.
On October 17th at New York's Madison Square Garden, WBA/IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will face IBF champion David Lemieux in a unification bout. On November 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Miguel Cotto will defend the WBC middleweight title against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Because Golovkin also holds the WBC's interim title at 160-pounds, the sanctioning body has made him the mandatory challenger to Cotto's title. The winner of Cotto-Canelo will have to face the winner of Golovkin-Lemieux or face being stripped of the WBC title.
A lot of insiders believe Cotto, should he win, will avoid Golovkin - a huge favorite to beat Lemieux.
Cotto's trainer, Freddie Roach, sees no reason to avoid a fight with Golovkin.
"I think the winner of this fight should fight him, maybe down the line. Right now we have a tough guy in front us," Roach said.
[In Golovkin's] last fight, he was exposed a little bit. Obviously he's a good puncher, he's a good fighter. He cuts the ring off well. His ring generalship, he's very good at that. But he did fatigue in the late rounds and we've never really seen him go late because he knocks everyone out early. He's a very great fighter. He's a very nice person. I like him. But I'm not afraid of him. If we win this fight, I think it could be our next fight."