Saul "Canelo" Alvarez may be heading to a potential megafight with Gennady Golovkin, with the former being mandated by the WBC to defend his title against the latter. But according to a report, Alvarez is leaning towards a rematch against Miguel Cotto, whom the Mexican defeated for the WBC middleweight title.
Alvarez has declared he is ready to fight Golovkin, but insisted that it would only be at a catchweight-stipulated match.
"I have respect for him [Golovkin], but if we do fight, it's going to be at my [natural] weight class [of 155 pounds]," Alvarez said.
"I'm the champion. I don't have to do what he wants."
But with the WBC mandating "Canelo" a title defense against Golovkin, the former does not have the luxury to impose a condition against "GGG."
Alvarez only has a period of 15 days following his victory over Cotto to negotiate a fight with Golovkin or relinquish the WBC middleweight belt. If the Mexican champ fails to make a deal with the undefeated Kazakh, a rematch with Cotto is possible, according to Dan Ambrose of Boxing News 24.
Both fighters have rematch language in their contracts from their fight, which implies that a second installment of Cotto vs Canelo is likely.
Moreover, Cotto believes he should have won the fight and many fans felt that the fight should have been scored closer.
Unlike Golovkin's recent fight against David Lemieux, which collected below average of PPV numbers, Cotto vs canelo generated almost a million in PPV buys, which could be a factor in future negotiations.
However, Keith Idec of the North Jersey does not believe a rematch is necessary for Cotto and Alvarez.
"There's no need for a rematch because Cotto clearly lost," Keith wrote.
"He deserved better than the 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111 scorecards submitted by the judges, but Cotto is embarrassing himself by claiming he won."
Reports about Cotto considering retirement has surfaced following his 12-round unanimous decision defeat against Alvarez. But for Cotto's trainer Freddie Roach, the Puerto Rican still has plenty left in the tank.
"He still has a future in boxing," Roach said, reports Boxing News Online.
"He has a couple more fights in him if they're the right fights, but he's had a great career so we'll see"
Meanwhile, Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Alvarez, remains mum about their next move. But with the 15-day period given by WBC slowly ticking, boxing fans will soon find out what to anticipate next year.