Talks about the long-proposed showdown between Miguel Cotto and Gennady Golovkin intensified after the latter scored another impressive win, but the fight is still unlikely to happen soon.
Count Top Rank Promotions CEO Bob Arum among those boxing personalities who are saying that the showdown will not happen even if Cotto wins in his upcoming fight against Daniel Geale on June 6 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Arum pointed out that he is still unsure if Cotto will successfully defend his World Boxing Council middleweight title against Geale. Geale took a humbling loss against Golovkin last year, but Arum said that the 34-year-old loss to a fighter, who he thinks is better than Cotto.
"Let me tell you something, Cotto does not have an easy fight with Danny Geale on June 6," Arum told BoxingScene. "I know Triple G destroyed Geale, but Cotto is not Triple G."
If Cotto wins against Geale, the Puerto Rican champion might have no other choice but to defend his title against Golovkin, who is the mandatory challenger to the WBC middleweight title.
Arum said that he if he is still the promoter of Cotto, who recently left Top Rank Promotions and signed a lucrative deal with Roc Nation Sports, he will not talk to K2 Promotions about a title fight because of one reason.
"Cotto is really not a middleweight," Arum said when asked about pitting Cotto against Golovkin.
Golovkin, who holds an impressive 33-0 record with 30 knockout victories, recently said that he is open to facing Cotto, but the 34-year-old champion is reportedly planning to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in September if he wins.
If Cotto decides to face Alvarez instead of Golovkin, he might be stripped off the title unless Golovkin agrees to step aside and just fight the winner of the Cotto-Alvarez fight.
Promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions insisted in a recent interview that they will not sign a step-aside deal unless Cotto and Alvarez signs an agreement that the winner will face Golovkin for the WBC middleweight title.
"If the winner agreed to fight him, and it was under the right terms - it's something we would consider," Loeffler said. "He's mandated now. If he has to wait three or four months, something to consider. He wants to fight as soon as possible; no agreement has been reached yet. If the right terms are in place it's something he'd have to consider."
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