Gennady "GGG" Golovkin is not the lineal middleweight champion, but he is widely regarded as the top middleweight in the world. On May 16 he will be fighting an unknown southpaw named Willie Monroe Jr. in defense of his WBA and IBO titles instead of battling for the WBC belt though, because Cotto hasn't shown interest in facing him.
Cotto is eyeing a June fight for his return to the ring, and rumor has it that former junior middleweight titlist Cornelius "K-9" Bundrage will be the opponent. That is disappointing to both Golovkin and boxing fans; even though Golovkin is not a pay-per-view draw, it's hard to argue K-9 will bring more eyeballs.
"I think Miguel understands my situations. He knows I want to fight him. My focus will be on Miguel Cotto after this fight," Golovkin said in a recent interview. He also said Cotto interests him more than Canelo Alvarez or Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. because they don't have titles.
"Yes, those fights are interesting but I'm a champion, and I want to unify the titles in my division."
Cotto has been given leeway to take one voluntary defense of his belt before he must either face Golovkin for the WBC crown or vacate the belt. Before that though, Golovkin must get by Monroe Jr., whom he isn't taking lightly despite fans' cavalier attitude toward him.
"We chose Monroe because he is young and is a very interesting fighter," Golovkin said. "He's a good mover and he isn't scared to fight. It will bring a new challenge to me. If you look at his last fight, it was a good fight. It's going to be a good fight for me because he's a mover and a lefty; I think it will be a good test for me."
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