Miguel Cotto was linked to a May 2 title fight against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez earlier this year, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement leaving the Puerto Rican with no opponent at this point.
Cotto, the reigning World Boxing Council middleweight champion, is also being linked to a rematch with Floyd Mayweather, but the reigning pound-for-pound king's camp is currently engaged in talks for a possible fight against Manny Pacquiao in May.
For promoter Tom Loeffler, Cotto will have no other choice but to face Gennady Golovkin in a title unification bout this year. However, Loeffler is quite sure that Cotto, who won the middleweight title with a knockout win against Sergio Martinez in June last year, won't face Golovkin in his first title defense this year.
"Cotto knows Gennady is his mandatory, and the WBC will enforce the mandatory after this next fight. I am sure Cotto will want one more payday before vacating the title, instead of fighting Triple G, nobody seriously thinks he will fight Gennady at 160," Loeffler said via The Sweet Science.
Loeffler said that a title unification bout between Cotto and Golovkin will work in favor of Cotto financially because the Puerto Rican will have the bigger share of the purse, and that the fight will sell out their preferred venue - the Madison Square Garden.
While the fight makes sense for Cotto financially, Loeffler is convinced that the 34-year-old champion will only face Golovkin if forced by WBC, knowing that Triple G is a dangerous opponent based on the reigning World Boxing Association and International Boxing Organization middleweight champions' 31-0 record with 28 knockouts.
"Cotto will not fight us until he is forced to by the WBC," Loeffler added. "Gennady is ready and willing to fight Cotto in a unification fight if Cotto has no big name dance partner. It would sell out Madison Square Garden."
Golovkin, who has knocked out his last 18 opponents, is scheduled to defend his world titles against Martin Murray on Feb. 21 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The 32-year-old knockout artist will be a heavy favorite, but his camp reiterated that they are not taking Murray lightly, knowing that a loss would hurt their chances of getting big-money bout.
