Miguel Cotto will likely face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in his next fight, but the Puerto Rican is also ready to defend his World Boxing Council middleweight title against Gennady Golovkin.

Trainer Freddie Roach, who has helped Cotto win in his last three fights, played down speculation that his fighter is afraid of Golovkin. The veteran boxing trainer said that he is confident Cotto could hand the unbeaten middleweight champion the first defeat of his career.

"I've never shied away from that fight, never," Roach told BoxingScene, referring to Cotto facing Golovkin. "Golovkin is a good fighter, I think he's a very good fighter."

Golovkin, who holds 33-0 with 30 knockout victories, is considered as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world today. While he admires Golovkin, Roach said that he saw a lot of flaws in previous fights of Golovkin, which makes him believe Cotto is better than the Kazakh knockout artist.

"He's only good for a couple of rounds, because it seems like if you stay with him for a couple of rounds his punches aren't as sharp as they are in the third and fourth rounds," Roach said. "He doesn't like shots to the body that much. He got a little tired in his last fight because he's been knocking everybody out in one or two rounds."

Golovkin is coming off a sixth-round knockout win against Willie Monroe Jr. last month. The 33-year-old boxing champion said that he intentionally allowed Monroe to last for few more rounds, but most boxing analysts, including Roach, did not buy the statement, saying that the Kazakhstan native was just exposed.

Responding to criticisms, Abel Sanchez, Golovkin's trainer, came into the defense of his fighter. Sanchez said that he is really hoping their possible opponents saw a lot of flaws and will agree to fight Golovkin because of those alleged weaknesses of Golovkin.

"I hope they saw a lot of holes that makes them brave enough to step in the ring with him," Sanchez said in an interview with BoxingScene. "Sometimes you have to create illusions and you have to create opportunities, so other guys see an opportunity by believing that there's a chink in the armor. But it seems that all they do is talk."

Golovkin, who is the reigning International Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association middleweight champion, is the mandatory challenger to Cotto's WBC title.

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.

Related