Cotto-Canelo winner to take on a smaller fighter next?
The way things are going, it appears unlikely that the winner of the Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Miguel Cotto middleweight championship bout Nov. 21 will face Gennady Golovkin next because neither fighter seems interested in fighting at 160 pounds. So whom might the winner face next?
According to a report on Boxing Scene, the winner of the Nov. 7 showdown between Brandon Rios and Timothy Bradley could be in line to take on the Cotto-Canelo winner. That is if you believe what Top Rank CEO Bob Arum and Rios’ trainer, Robert Garcia, are saying.
Arum was mapping out the 2016 plans for his fighters and talked about potential opponents for Manny Pacquiao.
“We’re going to wait for Nov. 7 to see what comes out of the Bradley-Rios fight,” Arum said after Terence Crawford dispatched Dierry Jean on Saturday night and may have put himself in position to land the Pacquiao fight. “Whoever wins, we may have to wait another two weeks to see if Canelo beats Cotto because the winner of Bradley-Rios could also fit against Canelo.”
Garcia corroborated Arum’s statements.
“Canelo has been mentioned,” Garcia said, “but Canelo has a very dangerous fight. That fight is not easy, so we don’t know if Cotto will beat Canelo. And we don’t know if Cotto will be available because Cotto just left Top Rank.”
But there’s a fundamental problem with this fight that comes with all of the moving parts. Canelo-Cotto is being fought at a catchweight of 155 pounds for Cotto’s 160-pound middleweight title. Bradley-Rios is taking place at the 147-pound welterweight limit. Garcia has never been too keen on Rios moving up to junior middleweight, and Canelo has made it clear that he won’t be making any sacrifices with his weight that could give his opponent an advantage.
Quite the dilemma we are having here, but it is boxing as usual.
