Abel Sanchez: Golovkin will never be unified middleweight champion

Boxingnews24.com

By Sean Jones: Gennady Golovkin will never become the unified middleweight champion, according to his trainer Abel Sanchez, because he says WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders will never fight him. Sanchez thinks Saunders doesn’t want the fight with GGG, and that he’ll price himself out when it comes to making the fight because he wants Anthony Joshua money to face Golovkin.

Unbeaten Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) stopped Vanes Martirosyan (36-4-1, 21 KOs) in the 2nd round last Saturday night at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

Sanchez also says that WBA World middleweight champion Ryota Murata is an option for Golovkin if the Saul Canelo Alvarez fight doesn’t get made. Murata could be a possibility for GGG, especially if they’re unable to make the fight with Saunders or Canelo.

Sanchez says what’s more important for Golovkin than unifying the 160lb. division is not what’s in the best interest for him. What is more important for Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs) than unifying the middleweight division is to stay active.

Golovkin took a stay busy fight last Saturday night against Vanes Martirosyan (36-4-1, 21 KOs), and looked great in stopping him in the 2n round on HBO at the StubHub Center in Carson, California. Martirosyan replaced Canelo Alvarez after he pulled out of the fight last April.

“The priority is to keep Gennady busy,” Sanchez said. “We know now that he’s never going to be unified champion. [Billy Joe] Saunders is never going to fight him, because Saunders is looking for lottery money. He’s waiting for the opportunity and Saunders doesn’t want to fight him. He asked for $7 million to fight [Daniel] Jacobs. Imagine [what he would want to fight] Golovkin, Anthony Joshua money. So we’re kind of certain we’re not going to get that belt. The belts are not as important as what’s in Gennady’s best interest. He’s not bummed out. What he would have been bummed out about it not being able to fight the 5th today.

It’ll cost IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Golovkin a lot of money to fight Saunders and he might not be worth it. In another direction, if Golovkin loses his IBF title by having it stripped from him for failing to defend against the International Boxing Federation’s mandatory challenger Sergey Derevyanchenko, then it won’t matter for him to face Saunders. Golovkin will have already lost his IBF title and he’ll have only 2 titles instead of 3.

“It would be Murata, Jacobs, Charlo, Derevyanchenko. I sure hope so,” Sanchez said about wanting the Canelo-GGG 2 rematch. “I hope so for the fans. The fight needs to happen for our sport. This is the fight that’s imminent. This is the fight that should happen because our sport needs it. I think he’s young enough to fight until he’s 40, the way he’s been taking care of himself,” Sanchez said about his belief that Golovkin can fight another four more years.“He’s the guy in front of us that is not only a money fight, but some questions need to be answered that weren’t answered last September,” Sanchez said about Canelo. “I think that’s what’s what should happen. Jacobs and Charlo fight, and it’s a great fight. Now let’s say that Charlo beats Jacobs easily. Charlo just beat the guy that came close to beating Golovkin. Now we have something that can be sold. The other guy with the IBF hasn’t proven anything,”Sanchez said of Derevyanchenko. “He hasn’t done anything for us,” Sanchez said.

It sounds like Golovkin may soon be vacating his IBF title if he doesn’t have it stripped from him by the IBF first for not defending against Derevyanchenko. There isn’t a lot of time for Golovkin and his promoter Tom Loeffler to make up their minds about whether they’re going to take the fight with Derevyanchenko, because the IBF expects it to happen by their deadline of August 3. That means Golovkin has to get back into training camp by early June for him to be ready to fight in late July or early August against Derevyanchenko if he decides he wants to comply with the IBF’s direction for him to take that fight.

That’s not a great fight for Golovkin compared to the money he can make against Murata in fighting him in Tokyo, Japan. Sanchez and Loeffler both are interested in Murata as an opponent for GGG. Sanchez sees the value of Jacobs and Charlo going up for Golovkin if they face each other, and a winner emerges after an impressive performance. If Charlo looks great in beating Jacobs with ease, then his stock is going to go way up right away, and there’s going to be a tremendous amount of interest in a Golovkin vs. Charlo fight in the boxing public.

Golovkin needs to get past Canelo in September if that fight can get made. Sanchez is very unhappy that Canelo isn’t being tested after being suspended for 6 months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for testing positive for clenbuterol. Sanchez states that the Commission has no jurisdiction over Canelo after giving him his suspension. They can’t force Canelo to be drug tested now that he’s suspended. Canelo has not been tested for 1 month since his last test in early April, and it’s possible that he might not be tested at all until he starts his training camp for his next fight.

“Probably by the beginning of June,” Sanchez said about the start time for GGG’s next training camp.

Sanchez is assuming that the Canelo rematch will be able to get negotiated for September 15. If it doesn’t, then Golovkin’s next training camp could be for him to either fight Derevyanchenko or Murata. A fight against Saunders is also a possibility, but not a strong one if he asks for too much money. Golovkin vs. Saunders won’t sell in the U.S.

“No, I think it’s important for Gennady to feel like he’s in a fight,” Golovkin’s trainer said about his fight with Martirosyan. “In the 1st round, he got caught with a big shot, but I think that’s what woke him up. When he came back to his corner, I told him to stop looking for one punch. Just go out there and get in a rhythm and throw some combinations, give me a good jab, some feints and see what happens,” Sanchez said.

Golovkin was caught with a couple of good shots in the 1st round against Martirosyan. Sanchez denies that Golovkin was hurt by any of those punches. He just says the punches woke him up and made him fight harder when he came out for the 2nd round.

”The only thing I disagree with and it’s not in their rules,” Sanchez said about the Nevada State Athletic Commission in discussing Canelo’s 6-month suspension and the lack of follow up drug testing for him to ensure that he’s not using PEDs. ”It’s not that they don’t want to do that, is that they lose jurisdiction over him from the moment he got suspended to the moment he gets reinstated. Meaning there’s no obligation on Canelo’s part to the Commission to be tested at all in that period of time, which is kind of ignorant. If I get a DUI or two or three DUIs, don’t they put a clamp on your leg? They scrutinize you, right? They’re keeping an eye on you. If you’re rated in the top 15 of the WBC, there should be some kind of testing. That’s my question and I keep asking it and nobody seems to want to answer,” Sanchez said.

It’s a mystery why the World Boxing Council is keeping Canelo ranked in their top 15 with him not being part of their Clean Drug program. Supposedly, the contenders that are ranked in the WBC’s top 15 are signed up for their Clean Drug program and being tested frequently. Canelo not being enrolled with the WBC’s program and still being ranked is what’s confusing.