Newly acquired New York Knicks point guard Jose Calderon will miss 2-3 weeks due to a strain in his right calf, according to a team announcement.

Aggravated Injury

Calderon, who was acquired by the Knicks during the off-season in the Tyson Chandler deal, had missed the final two preseason games and their Wednesday home opener against the Chicago Bulls where the Knicks were mauled, 104-80.

Knicks coach Derek Fisher had already announced that the Spaniard would be starting and good to go against the Bulls, but the 33-year old guard was a late scratch after feeling “discomfort” in his right calf during the pre-game workouts. An MRI later revealed that Calderon aggravated the injury during the warm-ups.

Fit For the Triangle

Calderon was the key part of the Tyson Chandler trade which also brought Samuel Dalembert and Shane Larkin to the Knicks. His adaptability to Phil Jackson’s triangle offense was expected because of his ability to space the floor with his outside shooting and his excellent passing skills. Calderon has a career average of 6.8 assists per game and 1.1 three point makes per game. Last season, Calderon shot a very high 2.4 three pointers per game while playing for the Dallas Mavericks.

The Knicks have been struggling to learn the triangle system and according to sources, Calderon was the “quickest” to absorb it. He is also an upgrade from their former starting point guard Raymond Felton, who was also shipped out during the Tyson Chandler deal.

Problem at The Point

Calderon’s injury does mean a big problem at the point guard spot for the Knicks who only have Pablo Prigioni and Shane Larkin as the other point guards available. The 37-year old Prigioni doesn’t look like he can play significant minutes anymore with the minor injuries that he’s been dealing with, while the second year guard Larkin doesn’t have the experience to lead a team that has Carmelo Anthony and bigger stars in it.

Larkin started in Calderon’s absence on Wednesday and he struggled in the first start of his NBA career by going 2-6 from the field and scoring 6 points, grabbing 2 rebounds and issuing 3 assists. He was also 0-2 from the three point area. On the other hand, Prigioni did have 3 steals and the same number of assists and rebounds as Larkin, but he too struggled with his offense after just notching 4 points on 1-4 shooting and going 0-3 from three point distance. Calderon’s absence was visibly felt as the Knicks were out-assisted 19-21 and outshot from three point distance 3-7. Without an able floor general, the Knicks also shot a dismal 37% from the field.

The problem does not stop on opening night for the 0-1 Knicks as they will be facing teams with strong point guards in their next three games: Cleveland with Kyrie Irving, Charlotte with Kemba Walker and Washington with John Wall.  Starting 0-4 will not be a good sign for the Phil Jackson era.

Already without 2014 NBA MVP Kevin Durant, the Oklahoma City Thunder will open their 2014-15 NBA  campaign with a couple more casualties.

Unprecedented Injuries

The team reported on Monday that guards Reggie Jackson and Jeremy Lamb will not be traveling with the team for their first two regular season games against the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday after both players were injured during Monday’s practice sessions.

According to the Thunder’s injury report, Jackson suffered an ankle sprain while Lamb tweaked his back. The severity of the injuries were not disclosed although team officials said that both players will have their injuries evaluated when the team returns from the early road trip.

Thunder Coach Scott Brooks said “he’s never seen anything like this”, referring to the string of injuries that have hit the Thunder in the off-season.

All Part of the Game

However, Brooks added that these injuries are “part of the game” and  “beyond control”. The only thing they can control, according to the six-year head coach, is “preparation and how they play.” But while Brooks remains positive, that is easier said than done.

Aside from Durant who will miss six to eight weeks with a foot injury, the Thunder will also start the season without off-season addition Anthony Morrow ( strained MCL) who is out for six weeks, rookie big man Mitch McGary (foot fracture) who is down five to seven weeks and reserve big man Grant Jerrett (ankle) who is listed as day to day. The injury to Jackson and Lamb further depletes the Thunder’s thinning line-up to start the season.

New Starting Unit

Despite these injuries, the Thunder are still left with a decent starting unit, which coach Brooks revealed during the interview. He said that Andre Roberson will start alongside Russell Westbrook in the backcourt while Perry Jones will compliment Serge Ibaka and Steven Adams in the frontcourt.

The key for this starting unit will be the development of Steven Adams. The sophomore big man assumes the starting spot of veteran Kendrick Perkins who didn’t play in the preseason to rest a strained quad. Perkins started 62 games last season, but could only average 3.4 points and 4.9 rebounds in 19.5 minutes of playing time. Adams averaged 11.0 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists in the last 5 preseason games while shooting at a very high .600 from the field. With Adams’ steady development, the OKC frontline should be better than last season.

A Scoring Problem?

But the problem with OKC is with their backcourt and scoring.

The Thunder could be looking at 20 games without Kevin Durant and those will be huge shoes to fill. Last season, Durant contributed 19.2 win shares out of the Thunder’s 59 wins last season or .325. Russell Westbrook hopes to prove himself with this opportunity to lead the team, but he will need more scoring boost from Roberson and Jones with their shooting guards Morrow, Lamb and Jackson also out of commission. Morrow was having a sensational preseason, scoring 16.0 points per game and hitting 2.4 three pointers per outing.

Perry Jones though has shone in the preseason, averaging 13.6 points per game in five games and scoring at least 20 in the last two games. They will need more scoring in the absence of Durant and shooting guard Morrow. Roberson, who was the 26th pick in the 2013 draft, also picked up his scoring during the preseason by notching 6.0 points per game. If Jones and Roberson continue to improve their scoring during the regular season, they will at least mitigate the scoring loss from Durant’s 32.0 points per game and the expected double digit scoring of Anthony Morrow.

It was arguably the most difficult bout of Jose Aldo’s MMA career, but he still won.

Almost Invincible

The 28-year old Brazilian has looked almost invincible in this impressive run that has made him the UFC’s number two pound for pound fighter today.

Aldo made it seven consecutive title defenses, and nine overall including the first two in the WEC after outpointing number one contender Chand Mendes to retain his UFC Featherweight title. The win was also Aldo’s 18th straight career victory as he has not lost a bout since being submitted by Luciano Azevedo in 2005.

Highly Anticipated Rematch

The five round bout which served as the main event for UFC 179 at the Maracanazinho Gymnasium in Brazil was a rematch of their first championship encounter at UFC 142 in January of 2012. During that bout, Mendes was an undefeated top-ranked challenger whom experts said had the skills to topple the infallible Aldo.

But Aldo quickly ended that fight in controversial fashion for holding on the fence before delivering a fight ending knee to the head with one second left in round one. Mendes took that loss hard and rebounded with five consecutive wins, including four knockouts, to re-appear as the UFC’s top featherweight contender and earn another shot at Aldo in this highly anticipated rematch.

Better Than Ever

Mendes promised to be a much better fighter and he was better than ever. He scored the bout’s first knockdown in the opening minutes of round one, knocking Aldo down with a well-timed left hook that knocked the champion back and down. However, Aldo immediately got up and was able to knock Mendes right back towards the end of the round. Mendes looked like he was in trouble in the closing moments of the first round and Aldo looked to finish him off by beating the clock. Controversy struck as Aldo connected on two punches after the bell rang to end round one that sent Mendes down at the edge of the fence.

Mendes looked fully recovered as round two started and both men resumed their rivalry. Aldo started finding his groove with his laser jabs but kept on taking strong hits from the hard hitting challenger. The third round started with Mendes getting a second and final warning for an eye poke, but it was Aldo again who had the slight advantage with his perfectly timed jabs and body shots.

A Fierce Striking Match

Sensing that he could be behind on points, Mendes went all out in round four and dominated Aldo, who has a reputation of slowing down in the championship rounds. Mendes repeatedly tagged Aldo’s face and caused a cut below his left eye. In the final round, Menes finally took Aldo down but he wasn’t able to do any damage on the mat. Aldo worked his way back to his feet and both men finished the fight in a stand-up, exchanging bombs until the final bell. The fierce striking match saw a total of 270 strikes landed, with Aldo outpointing Mendes 143-127, per Fightmetric stats.

All three judges scored the bout 49-46 in favor of the champion.

Did not Protest

Although Mendes did not protest referee Marc Goddard’s decision not to deduct a point from Aldo, it was obvious that the two punches at the end of round were crucial in the outcome of the bout. Although the one-point deduction would have not mattered in the scoring, Mendes was a different fighter after the first round.

He put less more pressure on Aldo than he did in round one and stood in front of the champion at times, giving Aldo the perfect target for his excellent striking game. Both men showed supreme sportsmanship after the bout, offering each other respect after much trash talking before the fight. Aldo said that they may be rivals inside the cage, but they are friends outside of it. He called it the toughest bout of his career.

It looked as boring as a Floyd Mayweather boxing bout, but like Money always does, Phil Davis got the win.

Avoiding the Bombs

The #6 ranked light heavyweight contender Phil Davis stuck to his game plan and wrestled former number one contender Glover Texeira for three rounds to score a unanimous decision win over the Brazilian in the co-main event of UFC 179 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Knowing Texeira’s reputation as one of the sport’s most prolific knockout artists, Davis utilized his collegiate All-American wrestling background to avoid Texeira’s bombs and dominate his opponent for three straight rounds.

Takedown Was Theme

As soon as the bout began, Davis kept the fight in the clinch and tried to shoot an early takedown on the heavy handed Texeira. According to fight stats, Davis had a total of 18 takedown attempts. And while Glover Texeira defended half of them, Davis was able to take advantage of his opponent in each of the nine times he put him on the mat.

Texeira tried to turtle up each time he Davis took him down, but Mr. Wonderful was smart enough to take his back each time and land short punches to the face and knees to the midsection to slow down the Brazilian. As the fight continued, Davis was relentless in frustrating his opponent who was unable to land any significant blow.

After the bout, Davis admitted to pretending not to be hurt with the limited shots that Texeira was able to land on him. Although all the judges scored the bout 30-27 in favor of Davis, the 30-year old Pennsylvania native said it was a “tough fight.”

The Brazilian Killer

The win gave Davis a 3-0 record when fighting in Brazil. Texeira was the second favored Brazilian whom he beat in Rio de Janeiro. Davis outclassed former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida during their UFC 163 match last year. He also defeated Wagner Pablo at UFC 153.

After the bout, Fox Sports analyst and former UFC fighter Brian Stann asked Davis about his “Brazilian Killer” reputation. Davis replied with a quote from a Wesley Snipes movie and said “Always bet on black.” When pressed to give a name for his next fight, Davis said that he would love to fight former UFC Middleweight king Anderson Silva, who was on hand for the event.

Davis has been close to a title shot in the past and the win over the 4th ranked Texeira could put him closer to the gold once again. But while he was dominant in defeating Texeira, it may be a different story against the top dogs of the division. Although Davis holds a win over Alexander Gustafsson in 2012, that was way before Gus became the top fighter he is right now.

Martin Murray secured another title shot by scoring a seventh round technical decision win over Italy’s Domenico Spada during their WBC Silver middleweight championship at the Salle des Etoiles in Monte Carlos, Monaco.

Accidental Head Butt

Acting on the advice of the ringside physician, referee Daniel de Wiele stopped the bout at 1:19 of the seventh round due to a nasty cut on the corner of Spada’s right eye. The cut was caused by an unintentional head butt in the third round which could not be contained by Spada’s corner.

Spada was upset about the stoppage, as the cut wasn’t affecting his vision. However, before the fight was stopped, the referee had let the doctor take a look at the cut and it was beginning to bleed profusely when the doctor recommended the stoppage.

Murray had a one point deduction after the incident as per the WBC rule that shaves a point off from the uncut fighter in accidental head butts. But Murray knew he was ahead in the scorecards after the fourth round as the bout was held using the open scoring system. He  said that he was surprised about the close scores in the two scorecards, despite clearly dominating the match with his superior skill and speed.

Another title shot

With the victory, Murray formalized his February 21st world title shot against WBC middleweight king Gennady Golovkin who was on hand to watch his fight against Spada. K2 managing director Tom Loeffler said after the bout that Golovkin and Murray had already come to terms with a February showdown a month ago pending their latest wins. Golovkin dispatched of Marco Antonio Rubio last week to fulfill his part of the deal.

According to Loefller, they tried to book Murray in advance after a big fight against top fighters like Miguel Cotto, Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr couldn’t be made. Loeffler said that Murray is a world class fighter who has a resume of fighting big named boxers in the past.

Always the bridesmaid

Murray was a former WBA interim middleweight champion and has fought for the world title twice in the past. But he has always been the bridesmaid, drawing with Felix Sturm in 2011 and losing a close decision to Sergio Martinez in April 2013. Murray has won four fights in a row after the Martinez debacle where many thought he won after scoring a knockdown over the Argentinian boxing legend.

Golovkin though is another story for Murray. The Kazakh slugger has knocked out 28 of his 31 opponents in a destructive trail that has made him one of boxing’s biggest attractions. However, because of his 90% knockout ratio, K2 has claimed that the bigger names have been avoiding him.

Murray promoter Rodney Berman said that all of Golovkin’s opponents were afraid of Golovkin even before they fought GGG hence they fought like sitting duck. He insists that Murray will “make Golovkin work”  and that Murray will out-hustle him.

Former two division world champion Timothy Bradley has agreed to fight the rugged #10 ranked contender Diego Chaves on December 13th of this year.

First Career Loss

The fight marks Bradley’s return to the ring after suffering his first professional career loss at the hands of Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao last April 12th. Bradley previously defeated Pacquiao via a controversial split decision during their first encounter in 2012 but lost via scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 during their highly anticipated rematch.

On the other hand, Chaves is coming off a controversial fight, himself. The 28-year old Argentinian was disqualified in the ninth round of his scheduled 10 round bout against former lightweight champion Brandon Rios last August. Chaves and Rios fought in an ugly fight that was marred with warnings and point deductions. Before he was disqualified by referee Vic Drakulich, Chaves had been warned for throwing an elbow to Rios’ face then deducted two separate points for holding and a heabutt.

Dangerous Opponent

Bradley believes that there is more to Chaves than just a dirty fighter. He thinks that Chaves is a dangerous opponent who has what it takes to pull off an upset if he is not fully prepared.

The Argentine holds a professional record of 23-2 with 19 knockouts to his credit. Chaves’ only other loss came at the hands of rising star Keith Thurman. Chaves was a former WBO Latino welterweight champion and a former WBA interim welterweight champion before losing to Thurman via 10th round knockout in 2013. Bradley says that Chaves reminds him of Ruslan Provodnikov, the Russian brawler who fought Bradley in boxing’s 2013 Fight of The Year. Bradley lost the Provodnikov fight because he chose to brawl rather than box Provodnikov. Chaves he said will be no match against him once he uses his movement and speed.

Just the same, Bradley says that he is ready for any dirty tactic that his opponent will employ. He added that whoever the referee will be should take control of the fight once it starts getting dirty. Or else, Bradley joked that they might take off the gloves and fight MMA because he’s going to submit Chaves instead. The mention of MMA is in obvious reference to his regular sparring sessions with fellow Cathedral High School graduate and top UFC contender Cub Swanson.

Getting Ready to Rumble

During the loss to Pacquiao, Bradley severely tore his calf causing him to be out of action for months. But that injury has healed and Bradley’s started training more than a month ago. During Monday’s press conference, Bradley was in a light mood and seemed to be more at peace with himself than the last two years when he had to deal with the Pacquiao controversy. Bradley’s wife Monica also said that her husband is “in a better frame of mind” right now despite losing to Pacquiao last April.

Bradley feels that he is now finally getting the credit for his achievements and that he has moved past the first fight with Pacquiao. He hopes to bounce back to the winning column with a convincing win over Diego Chaves on December 13. After that, Bradley is planning to move up two weight classes to face the winner of the Cotto-Alvarez bout, should that fight materialize in 2015.

Junior lightweight champion Mikey Garcia has informed the WBO that he will be vacating his WBO title.

Moving Up to 140 Pounds

According to WBO President Paco Valcarcel, Garcia informed the WBO of his decision through a letter which the organization received last Tuesday. Garcia wrote in the letter that he will no longer be fighting interim WBO junior lightweight champion Orlando Salido in a mandatory defense because he is still embroiled in a promotional dispute with Top Rank and that he is having difficulty making the 130-pound weight limit.

Garcia also wrote that he was planning to move to the 140 pound weight class and requested to be ranked at the 140-pound division. In doing so, Garcia will be effectively skipping the 135-pound weight class in favor of fighting in the talent laden junior welterweight division where the likes of Danny Garcia, Lamont Peterson, Lucas Matthysse and Adrien Broner fight.

A Dominating Force

The 5-7 Garcia has been a dominant force in boxing’s featherweight and super featherweight division with his height and power.

Garcia took away Salido’s featherweight belt in January 2013 with an eight round punishment before capturing the junior lightweight belt with an impressive eight round TKO win over Roman “Rocky” Martinez in November 2013. Garcia defended the WBO 130-pound title with a lopsided decision win over Carlos Burgos last January 25th.

But an ongoing squabble with his promoter Top Rank has frozen him until this day. Garcia has already taken his promotional woes to the courts, suing Top Rank earlier this year. The 26-year old fighter from Oxnard, California is unbeaten in 34 fights and has knocked out 28 of his opponents.

Top Prospect Wasted?

Trained by his brother and 2012 Trainer of the Year Robert Garcia, Mikey Garcia is one of the top American boxing prospects today.  His impressive run of beating top quality opposition since 2012 has made him the darling of the US boxing fans who have been accustomed to seeing him destroy his opponents in the ring.

Garcia was hoping to fight one more time before the end of the year, and was even looking at the prospect of taking on fellow Top Rank fighter Manny Pacquiao or setting up an explosive matchup against Yuriorkis Gamboa. But his disagreements with Top Rank have put him on the sidelines since January and it has become alarming. The boxing public certainly hopes that Mikey Garcia doesn’t end up like Andre Ward and James Kirkland who have wasted their prime years with contractual problems.

The Boston Celtics beat the Brooklyn Nets 95-90 in an experimental 44-minute game last Sunday afternoon at the Barclays Center.

The Silver Experiment

The shortened preseason game is one of the “experiments” that the NBA is taking under the innovative leadership of Commissioner Adam Silver to reduce the wear and tear of players in the NBA’s 82-game regular season.

The Celtics and Nets played four 11 minute quarters where two mandatory timeouts were eliminated from the game. The game officially lasted one hour and 58 minutes and was roughly 30 minutes shorter than the standard 48 minute game which the NBA has been playing with.

Not Much of an Impact

After the game, both coaches agreed that the reduction of four minutes didn’t have much of an impact and that the only time they noticed a shorter game was during the first timeout in the first quarter. Nets guard Joe Johnson concurred the coaches’ opinions, saying that “it’s pretty much the same” since the players still play the same amount of minutes. Johnson added that he “would like to keep the 48 minute game instead.”

The idea of a 44 minute game was broached by Dallas Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle during one of the offseason meetings between the NBA and the coaches. During that particular meeting, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and Brooklyn Nets mentor Lionel Hollins agreed to participate in the “experiment” by letting their teams play in the first ever 44 minute NBA game.

Calls for a shorter season

When the league announced that they will be experimenting a 44 minute preseason game, two of the more prominent players in the league came forward to give their opinion about decreasing the players’ wear and tear.

Dallas Mavericks’ forward Dirk Nowitzki said last week that 82 games is” too much” to determine the best eight teams per conference. The 7-foot German star opined that the ideal NBA season should have “mid-60s games” per team. His suggestion was seconded by no less than four time MVP LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, who said that shortening the season and not shortening the game is the solution to “protecting players’ health.” James’ former coach, Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat agreed with James and Nowitzki, also saying that “everybody” agrees that the 82-game season is too long.

Not a Realistic Possibility

However, despite the backing of the league’s best players, shortening the NBA season is not seen as the solution that the NBA will take to address the issues on player health. Cutting down on games decreases both the owners’ revenues and the players’ salaries.

Earlier this month, the NBA signed a mammoth $24B TV deal that is thrice the amount of the NBA’s current TV contract. That contract is expected to raise the salary cap by 40% in the 2016-17 season when the new TV deal kicks in. With that much money on the table, shortening the season may not be a realistic possibility.

The Axe Man just keeps on chopping.

Chopping Down Donaire

Nicholas Walters punched his way to a sixth round knockout victory over Nonito Donaire Jr. in the co-main event of HBO’s “Mexican Style” boxing show at the StubHub Center in Carson, California on Saturday night.

The unbeaten Jamaican champion finished the 2012 BWAA Fighter of the Year winner in the closing seconds of the sixth round with a devastating right hand to the side of the head which knocked Donaire face first into the canvass. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. waived the bout off with one second left in the round after Donaire failed to beat the count.

Coming Out Party

Although Walters was already the WBA’s regular featherweight world champion coming into the bout, he was still a virtual unknown to the American market. But with his spectacular demolition of one of the best boxers in the lighter weight classes, Walters turned the fight into his coming out party.

After his victory was announced, Walters celebrated what was easily the biggest victory of his young career with a dance in his corner. The win was also a fitting tribute to Walters father-trainer, who was celebrating his birthday on Saturday.

Not His Class

Walters was too long and too strong for Donaire, who had gone up in weight to win world titles in five weight classes. But the featherweight division could be too much for the 31 year old Filipino Flash.

Walters wobbled Donaire in their early exchanges although the Filipino caught Walters with his patented left hook in the closing seconds of round 2. But after getting hit with the punch that put Fernando Montiel and Jorge Arce to sleep, Walters recovered easily in between rounds and put the pressure on Donaire once again in the third round where he smacked Donaire with an uppercut that led to the fight’s first knockdown.

Donaire seemed to be tentative to brawl after the third round knockdown and tried to land from a distance. But Walters length was too much and Donaire’s right eye was beginning to swell badly after getting targeted by Walters. An accidental head butt caused more trouble for the Filipino champion as it opened a cut in his left eye. Sensing blood, Walters moved in for the kill.

No Excuses

Donaire offered no excuses after the bout saying that Walters’ power and height were too much for him. He said that he had the “best training camp” and he showed up with the “old fire” that was missing in his last three bouts. But none of the best that Donaire had was good enough for Walters.

After the bout, Top Rank President Bob Arum said he’s “never seen a featherweight with the power of Walters.” Arum is not alone because neither have we seen in the past any other featherweight drop 21 of 25 opponents. The scary thing about the Axe Man is that he proved on Saturday that he can take a punch.

Chalk up another knockout victory for Gennady Golovkin.

Destructive Tale Continues

WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin stopped Marco Antonio Rubio in the second round of the main event of “Mexican Style” at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Fighting in California for the first time ever, the Kazakh Knockout Artist showed the 9.323 people in attendance why he is the most feared boxer today.

Golovkin continued his destructive tales by scoring his 18th consecutive knockout against the man who lost his interim title in the weighing scales the previous day. But despite that, Rubio was a Mexican warrior and was supposed to show Golovkin how it is to fight the “Mexican Style”. Instead, that didn’t happen.

What Mexican Style?

Golovkin needed less that two rounds to dispose of the tough Marco Antonio Rubio and add the WBC interim middleweight title to his waist. Rubio stayed true to his word of showing Golovkin the true “Mexican style” of boxing by going toe to toe with GGG in the first round. And while he took well most of Golovkin’s punches in round one, his head was snapped by one of Golovkin’s bombs late in the round.

In the second Round, Golovkin started to heat up and transformed Rubio into a punching bag.  Landing hard shots in combinations at will, Golovkin slowly smothered Rubio. Rubio tried to avoid Golovkin’s punches by staying close but Golovkin effectively created the opening by pushing Rubio off and landing a right hand and left uppercut that started the end for Rubio.

A staggered Rubio moved towards the ropes where Golovkin caught him with a clean left to the temple that shut down Rubio’s legs. While it didn’t look like a fight ending-knockdown, Rubio failed to get up after taking time on the canvass to recover. Referee Jack Reiss counted out Rubio at the 1:19 mark of round two.

Marketing Golovkin

After the fight, Golovkin talked to the crowd with a couple of Mexican phrases that was cheered by the crowd who came to watch boxing’s fastest rising star. K-2 Promotions, who handles Golovkin, has been trying to endear its most prized fighter to the US market in an attempt not just to get bigger purses but to pressure the bigger named fighters like Cotto, Ward, Chavez Jr and Canelo Alvarez to fight him. Golovkin has earned a reputation as a high risk and low reward opponent who has left a trail of destruction behind him. K-2 hopes that with the win, the boxing public can help him get the big fights.

Golovkin is certainly ready for the big boys, and after the bout he mentioned Miguel Cotto as his preferred foe. And while Miguel Cotto and Saul Canelo Alvarez may be headed for a Cinco de Mayo weekend showdown, Gennady Golovkin hopes that his win over Rubio can put him in between the equation. However, with the way that he’s been knocking out his opponents, it’s understandable why Miguel Cotto is likely to choose Canelo Alvarez over Gennady Golovkin.