Canelo vs Golovkin won't happen: Freddie Roach

Hall of Famer trainer Freddie Roach does not believe a potential superfight of 2016 between WBC middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and unified middleweight titlist Gennady Golovkin will happen.

Roach said in an interview with Tha Boxing Voice that Canelo vs Golovkin was “never going to happen” despite all the hype coming from both boxers’ camp. The 55-year-old American trainer also believes Golovkin is not a huge draw yet, but the undefeated Kazakh deserves more than just the 10 percent split of the revenue proposed by Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya when the bout pushes through.

Golovkin has yet to find an opponent for his nearing comeback in the boxing ring. The Kazakh knockout artist, who plans to fight on Apr. 23 at the Madison Square Garden, was linked to his IBF mandatory challenger Tureano Johnson. But with Johnson dropping out of a possible match against Golovkin due to a recurring shoulder injury, the IBF has promoted Dominic Wade as the leading contender to take on “GGG.”

“They [Golovkin and Wade] have 30 days to agree to terms,” IBF spokesperson Jeanette Salazar told Boxing Scene. “[We] always move on to the leading available contender [in the event of the mandatory dropping out].”

Likewise, Alvarez is also set for a voluntary title defense on May 7, but the Mexican middleweight has yet to find an opponent for his ring return. Names like Gabriel Rosado, Willie Monroe Jr, and Liam Smith have been thrown into the mix as Alvarez’s next opponent, but with Golden Boy Promotions expecting huge pay-per-view numbers from Canelo’s next fight, they should probably consider a rematch with Miguel Cotto, according to Boxing News 24’s Dan Ambrose.

“Canelo needs an opponent for his May 7th fight on HBO pay-per-view, and he needs someone with a big enough name to attract fans into purchasing the card,” Ambrose wrote. “A rematch against Cotto would be ideal for that date.”

However, Alvarez’s trainer Eddy Reynoso told ESPN Deportes that a Canelo-Cotto rematch would only be possible if it was on the Mexican’s conditions. While it makes sense for Alvarez to demand the terms in a potential rematch with the Puerto Rican veteran, Cotto, apart from Golovkin, remains the only fighter who could net big PPV numbers for Canelo.