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Attention Boxing World: Will the “Real” Middleweight Champion Please Stand Up!

Who do you think would win between Gennady "GGG" Golovkin & Miguel Cotto?

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miguel cotto headerBy Agustin Perez

Puerto Rican superstar, Miguel Cotto has not fought since last June when he stopped the lineal middleweight champion, Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez, at Madison Square Garden. The next time Cotto steps into the ring, June 6, 2015, it will have been almost a year since his last bout. Since then, a lot has changed, including the promoter handling his fights. Earlier this month, Cotto inked a three fight, 50 million dollar deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation Sports.

Cotto’s next fight will be held in New York, at either Madison Square Garden or the Barclays Center in Brooklyn but what’s not known is who he will fight. Names have surfaced in recent weeks, including that of 41 year old IBF junior middleweight titlist Cornelius “K9” Bundrage, 34-5, 19 KO’s and unheralded Jorge Sebastian Heiland, 25-4-2, 13 KO’s.

But what about Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, who is the mandatory challenger to Cotto’s WBC middleweight title. Surely you’d expect Cotto, 39-4, 29 KO’s the lineal middleweight champion to GGGdefend his title against the best and “GGG” is arguably the best middleweight in the world, with or without The Ring Magazine belt around his waist. Unfortunately, Golovkin, 32-0, 29 KO’s is not available to fight June 6 because he is defending his titles on May 16 against Willie Monroe, JR. at the Forum, In Inglewood, California.

It’s unfortunate timing for Golovkin that the Cotto fight can’t be made in June but you better believe that Cotto wants no part of the undefeated middleweight “bogeyman”. Jay Z did not pay Cotto 50 million dollars to get destroyed his first time out under the Roc Nation Sports’ banner. At 160 pounds, Cotto can’t beat Golovkin, “GGG” is simply too big, too strong, and too skilled.

Without Roc Nation Sports in the picture, I doubt Cotto would have taken the “GGG” fight, but with this new deal in place, there is no way he steps foot in the ring with Golovkin. In large part because it does not make financial sense. Roc Nation Sports is banking on a Cotto showdown with either Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao down the line. How else can you explain such a lucrative offer for Cotto’s services? They will play it safe for these next 3 fights; if we’re lucky we will see Cotto against Mexican sensation, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez but even that is not a given.

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