By Allan Fox: For a lot of fans they wonder why WBC middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32 KOs) chose to fight the 34-year-old Daniel Geale (31-3, 16 KOs) for this Saturday instead of a bigger threat or a guy with more talent like Gennady Golovkin. Cotto says that Geale was the biggest name who was willing to accept his contract terms for the fight. That’s why he was given the shot.

Geale has a big fan base in Australia, and he’s a big name over there. Geale makes excellent money for his fights in his home country. It was a strategic move for Cotto to take him as an opponent despite him not being a big name in the U.S. Geale is a former IBF/WBA middleweight champion, and has faced quality fighters like Golovkin, Anthony Mundine and Darren Barker in the past.

“I’m only facing Daniel Geale because he was the biggest name on the table that accepted my terms,” Cotto said to Thaboxingvoice.com. “If Golovkin wants to fight he can sit with us, he’s going to talk to us and agree to our terms, [and] the fight is going to happen. If not, the fight’s not going to happen. My terms are going to be whatever we decide when I sit with [trainer] Freddie [Roach].”

Geale has been underestimated in his fight against Cotto. He’s got a real chance of being a spoiler in this fight if he can box Cotto, avoid his big shots in the first six rounds, and take him deep into the fight where he take advantage of his lack of size. Geale throws a lot of punches, and that’s something that Cotto can’t match. He’s a fighter that loads up on his shots. Geale is the opposite. He likes to throw massive amount of punches, and he moves all the time. It’s a tough opponent for Cotto potentially.

Geale isn’t quite the fighter that he once was, but he’s close enough to his prime to give Cotto problems if he can survive an early onslaught against him. Cotto will try and hurt Geale early like he did Sergio Martinez and Delvin Rodriguez. If Cotto can get Geale in trouble in the first few rounds, we’re likely to see the fight end very quickly. But if Geale takes Cotto deep into the fight, we could see either an upset or a possible controversial decision with Cotto winning. It’s going to be difficult for Geale to get a decision against Cotto because the venue favors Cotto, and he’s the A-side in this fight. To beat the A-side, Geale is going to need to leave no doubt who the better fighter is.

“The only way I want to be remembered as a warrior who never said no to any kind of challenge in my career,” Geale said.

A fight between Cotto and Golovkin will very likely take place next year after Cotto faces Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Unless Cotto retires after facing Canelo once or twice, he’ll probably be facing Golovkin in 2016. The money is too good for Cotto not to take the Golovkin fight, and he has no one else to face in the middleweight or the junior middleweight divisions once he gets past the Canelo fight. The outcome of the Canelo fight matters little. Cotto and Golovkin will still very likely be facing each other because there’s too much money in that fight for it not to take place. HBO wants the fight, as does Cotto’s promoters at Roc Nation Sports.