Boxing: Canelo Alvarez, Gennady Golovkin Will Face Each Other This Year, Says Oscar De La Hoya

Golden Boy Promotions President Oscar De La Hoya is convinced that the title unification bout between middleweight superstars Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin will happen this year.

Alvarez, who won the World Boxing Council middleweight title via a unanimous decision win against Miguel Cotto in November, should defend the title against Golovkin if he wants to keep the title. There are doubts if the fight will take place because Canelo looks unwilling to fight at 160 pounds.

"Obviously and inevitably this fight between Saul and Gennady is going to happen, no matter what and we are confident that it will take place," De La Hoya told reporters, when asked about the Alvarez-Golovkin bout.

Most analysts are convinced that Golovkin will be a tough nut to crack for Alvarez because the reigning World Boxing Association, International Boxing Organization and International Boxing Federation middleweight champion is naturally bigger than Canelo.

Golovkin, who is still undefeated in 34 professional bouts, is coming off an eighth-round knockout win against David Lemieux in October, which was his 21st straight stoppage victories. In his 34 victories, only three fighters managed to avoid a knockout loss.

While Golovkin has the advantage in size and reach, De La Hoya is still confident that Alvarez, who has a 46-1-1 record with 32 knockout victories, is still better than the undefeated Kazakh.

"Obviously strength is one thing, but ring generalship and ring smarts is another," De La Hoya said. "When you combine this with sheer power, the way that Canelo has, Saul is a very dangerous fighter, who's now maturing into his maximum strength."

De La Hoya added that Golovkin has not faced a fighter like Alvarez before. The Hall of Fame boxer said that Golovkin should be in his best possible shape against Canelo because Alvarez has all the tools to hand the 33-year-old the first defeat of his career.

"Gennady needs to come forward, pressure, throw a lot of punches and he'll have to be in great shape," De La Hoya said. "Canelo is strong, fast, he's younger than Gennady, and Canelo is getting better in every fight. We feel this is a fight like Hearns vs. Duran. Canelo has the style and the technique to disappoint a lot of Golovkin fans."

Both fighters were allowed to face one more opponent before the mandatory title showdown in the second half of 2016. Recent reports indicated that the Canelo-Golovkin bout will likely take place in September with all four world titles on the line.