Miguel Cotto will defend his World Boxing Council middleweight title against Saul "Canelo" Alvarez on Nov. 21 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The winner of the upcoming title showdown is expected to be required to defend the WBC middleweight crown against either Gennady Golovkin or David Lemieux, who are set to collide on Oct. 17 in New York.
Golovkin, who is the reigning International Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association middleweight champion, has been pushing for a title unification bout against Cotto.
The 33-year-old Kazakh is the mandatory challenger to Cotto's WBC middleweight title belt, but Golovkin and his camp opted to give way to the long awaited showdown between Cotto and Alvarez.
Golovkin and his camp agreed to step aside as long as the winner will give the knockout artist a title shot if he successfully defends his title against Lemieux.
However, Cotto reiterated on Saturday that he will not let anyone dictate him on who to face in his next fight, which means that a showdown with Golovkin or Lemieux is not set in stone even if the Puerto Rican wins against Canelo.
"Nobody handles Miguel Cotto's career but Miguel Cotto," Cotto told BoxingScene.
Cotto, who holds 40-4 record with 33 knockouts, is preparing for his biggest fight since losing to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in May 2012. His career was revitalized after working under Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.
Roach, a seven-time Boxing Writers Association of America trainer of the year awardee, guided Cotto to three consecutive victories -- against Delvin Rodriguez, Sergio Martinez and Daniel Geale -- since teaming up in 2013 after the Caguas, Puerto Rico native took a unanimous decision loss to Austin Trout in December 2012.
The 34-year-old world champion knows he will have a tough night against Alvarez, but he is confident that Roach will map out a perfect fight plan to defeat Canelo on Nov. 21.
"I know it's going to be a tough fight on November 21th but I trust in Freddie and in myself so I know we're going to do great," Cotto said. "I know people were expecting this fight for a long time. I know what I need to do to win the fight and I know I belong here."
The upcoming showdown between Cotto and Alvarez, which will be broadcasted on Pay-Per-View, is expected to be among the biggest fights in history and will add to the long list of fights featuring Mexican and Puerto Rican boxers.
