By Gregory Stangrit

Oleg Hermann, manager of IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (30-0, 27KOs), believes Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32KOs) would be willing to face his boxer in 2015.

Golivkin returns on Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. He will face WBC interim-middleweight champion Marco Antonio Rubio of Mexico. The World Boxing Council has made an unusual decision by sanctioning the fight as a unification/mandatory eliminator for Cotto's WBC middleweight crown. It is one of the rare occasions where a reigning champion can become the mandatory challenger to a world title of a rival sanctioning body.

Cotto may be heading into a 2015 showdown with Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Provided Cotto continues as champion, Hermann believes he will fight Golovkin rather than give up his WBC belt.

"Rubio is the most serious and experienced opponent to meet Gennady," said Hermann. "He has twice as many fights than Golovkin, and nearly twice as many knockouts. Therefore, we expect a very good confrontation on Saturday. Another reason why this fight is interesting for us - if we are successful we will be able to unify the titles and next year conduct a fight for the WBC world title with Miguel Cotto. In the United States, for stars such as Cotto, the WBC championship belt is very appreciated. I don't believe their side will pass on the opportunity of meeting with Golovkin, and [I think they will] agree to hold a mega-fight in 2015."

Gregory Stangrit covers boxing for Allboxing.ru