Boxing News 2014: Miguel Cotto Could Still Face Gennady Golovkin, Says Freddie Roach
Gennady Golovkin could still get a shot at Miguel Cotto as trainer Freddie Roach revealed that they are still considering facing the reigning IBO and WBA middleweight champion.
In an interview with Dan Rafael of ESPN, Roach said that Saul "Canelo" Alvarez remains their top option, but the Hall of Fame trainer insisted that he won't stand in the way of a possible showdown between Cotto and Golovkin.
"I like the Canelo fight better, but I like a fight with Golovkin second. I'd have no problem taking that fight," Roach said.
However, Roach, who has helped Cotto win in his last two fights, including the Puerto Rican's recent win against Sergio Martinez, pointed out that Golovkin must be willing to go down to 154 pounds for the fight to happen.
"If we did fight him I'd like the fight to be closer to 154 to make him come down a little bit. He's very strong, but I think we definitely could negotiate that fight for sure," Roach said. "Cotto made 155 last time. He's a little smaller than Golovkin, so I'd like him to come down as far as possible."
Roach watched Golovkin for the first time during the unbeaten champion's title defense against Daniel Geale last week. The veteran trainer was impressed with Golovkin's power that helped him score 27 knockouts in 30 wins, but Roach is confident that his fighter can handle the 32-year-old Kazakh.
"Golovkin puts himself in great position to punch. He was very impressive. He took a punch to give a punch. He's very strong," Roach said. "His power is quite impressive, but he's knocking out middle-class guys, not top-level guys. I could definitely get Miguel ready for that fight."
After winning against Geale, Golovkin and his camp started lobbying for a showdown against Cotto, who won the WBC middleweight title via a dominating victory against Martinez in June.
Roach's demand for a catchweight is not expected to be a major hurdle for a Cotto-Golovkin bout because Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler and trainer Abel Sanchez previously said that they are willing to go down to 154 pounds for a big-time fight.
For the latest sports news, follow Latin Post Sports on Twitter.
FOR MORE BOXING NEWS UPDATES, CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VISIT LATIN POST.COM'S SPORTS PAGE.
* This is a contributed article and this content does not necessarily represent the views of latinpost.com