Sanchez: Fans Won’t Pay To See Canelo Run

Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez, feels that Canelo Alvarez owes it to his fans to not “run” for twelve rounds on Saturday night, during the highly anticipated middleweight championship rematch.

Sanchez cites the $85 (USD) it will cost fans to purchase Alvarez and Golovkin’s second fight, as a reason the Mexican star should stand and trade with the heavy handed Golovkin.

“I think that in order to win the fight, you have to want to win the fight,” Sanchez said before a press conference Wednesday at MGM Grand.

“And you saw the show on Saturday night – there were three fights with six guys who were trying to win a fight. That’s, I think, all we expect. We’re not gonna pay 90 bucks to see somebody run again. So if he wants to win the fight, and he can employ any kind of tactic he wants, but just try to win the fight.”

Sanchez has been calling out Alvarez for “running” since the final bell rang for the latter’s controversial draw against Golovkin in September of 2017. Those taunt plus ones from Golovkin about Alvarez testing positive for clenbuterol have caused the Mexican fighter to predict a knockout of Golovkin, which Sanchez scoffed at.

“The fact is [Alvarez] has been telling everybody and he has promised the fans that he’s gonna knock him out,” Sanchez said. “In order to do that, you have to be at range. A lot of times I get asked why didn’t [Golovkin] throw any body shots. How many body shots did Canelo throw?”

If Sanchez were standing in Alvarez corner on September 15th, the top trainer would encourage cautious aggression from Alvarez.

“I’d tell him to fight smart, but I’d tell him to win the rounds to win the fight,” Sanchez said. “I would tell him to use the skills that we’ve developed, just like we’ve done with [Golovkin]. Everybody’s got a different style, but we have to use our skills to try to win. His defense is very good. He’s a good counter-puncher. Try to counter-punch. And in the middle of that, he’s gonna leave himself exposed.

“That’s where fighters like this and Julio Cesar Chavez and some of the greats that had those styles took advantage of a situation, punched in between punches, catch him in between. So if he’s willing to do that, if he’s willing to at least use his skills to try to win, then we’ll have a better fight.”

Initial Report: Boxing Scene