Boxing News 2015: Canelo Alvarez Focused on Miguel Cotto, Not Gennady Golovkin
Saul "Canelo" Alvarez played down talks about a possible showdown with Gennady Golovkin and reiterated that he is focused on his upcoming fight against Miguel Cotto.
Alvarez is continuously being linked to a showdown with Golovkin, who is the reigning International Boxing Organization, World Boxing Association and International Boxing Federation middleweight champion.
Golovkin, who is coming off an impressive eighth-round knockout win against David Lemieux, is also the mandatory challenger for the World Boxing Council middleweight title, which will be at stake in the upcoming Cotto-Canelo showdown on Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Recent reports indicated that Canelo is open to a title unification bout against Golovkin if he wins the WBC crown against Cotto, but will only agree at a catchweight of 155 pounds. But when asked about his demanded catchweight, Alvarez said that he is not yet thinking of it because the fight against Cotto is his top priority.
"I know there has been a lot of talk about a fight against Golovkin, but I'm just thinking about Cotto," Alvarez told ESPN Deportes via BoxingScene. "After that we'll see what happens in my career but right now my focus is on November 21 and nothing else."
In a separate interview, Alvarez told Los Angeles Times that he will not back down if he will be pitted against Golovkin, but he also admitted that he might not be ready to fight at 160 against the undefeated Kazakh, who holds a perfect 34-0 record with 31 knockout victories.
Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya also sounded like he is not expecting Alvarez to face Golovkin after his fight against Cotto, admitting that the Mexican boxing superstar is not yet a real middleweight fighter. He also added, though, that he thinks the Canelo-Golovkin fight will eventually happen in the future.
"Canelo is fighting Cotto because he wants that world title, but he's a junior-middleweight, not a middleweight," De La Hoya told LA Times. "Plus, he's a guy who doesn't like to talk about future fights, especially with this job at hand. After Cotto, we can start talking about the others. As for 'GGG,' yes, eventually that fight's going to happen."
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