This weekend, I had the chance to speak with Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez as an event in NY while promoting the upcoming fight between Gennady Golovkin and Willie Monroe Jr which will take place at the Forum in Inglewood, California. Abel went over numerous topics such as why they decided on Willie Monroe, possible other opponents in the future, as well as when we could see Gennady back in the ring after this fight.
I started off by asking him why Willie Monroe, Sanchez replied, “He’s a southpaw, that’s trouble for most guys, he’s got really good legs, he’s not a runner, but positions real well, and has decent hand speed.” I then asked about what’s different for him this fight because he hasn’t faced a southpaw since his HBO debut against Proska. “Mentally it’s different. He has had 350 fights, he’s faced a lot of southpaws in the amateurs, but he’s got to recall some of those things”, said Sanchez.
When asked what was the biggest difference in Golovkin now compared to 5 years ago, Sanchez stated, “He sees the fact that he’s getting older so his approach to fighting four times a year. He really wants to fight more. He got his family out here so he can fight more.” When I asked when we can likely see Golovkin back in the ring after this fight, Sanchez responded, “He gets a month off and then it’s right back in the gym, so about 3 months, sometime in the fall.
We moved onto the subject of some of one the possible opponents that Golovkin wanted to fight or hopes to fight, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
“Chavez needs to regroup. Maybe he’ll be ready for the 1st quarter of next yr. He needs to get some of that luster back. He is still a very viable opponent because he’ll be better at 168 as long as he gives himself to Joe Goosen. He didn’t seem to be improving with the group he had.”
When talking about some of the people that would give Golovkin his hardest challenges, Sanchez responded with, “Chavez because of his size, Carl Froch because of his style, and Andre because he’s just a difficult fighter.”
Regarding the situation with trying to get Cotto to accept a fight with GGG, Sanchez said, “Cotto has his own plans. He is supposed to face Gennady in the fall, but he may just give up the belt.” I asked if GGG is willing to come down in weight to get the fight done. “It’s for the 160 pound title, why should he go down? Now if Tom (Loeffler) and the team make an agreement to move down, fine, it can be negotiated. It all depends on what other things they are willing to give up.”
Finally, we moved onto the topic of Andre Ward and his thoughts on his next fight against Paul Smith at a 172-pound weight limit. Sanchez said, “For someone that has been saying he wants to fight Gennady, he sure is going in the opposite direction. I don’t foresee him have problems with Paul Smith, but does that mean he’s going the 75? I don’t understand it. He needs to get a couple fights under his belt, and I hope he looks great. I’m a fan of his too, and we need to see different styles and another great fighter and he is a great fighter.”
There are a lot of things that can happen between now and the next year. It seems like it’s inevitable that eventually Golovkin will have a fight against Cotto, Ward, Froch, Chavez, or even Canelo. The question is when, where, and how it will work out. All of those are great potential fights for the sport, but will politics and egos get in the way? It’s just another part of “The Drama Show” that seems to surround the man that is GGG.
