Abel Sanchez: “If Cotto wins against Canelo, I don’t think Cotto wants anything to do with Golovkin”

Gennady Golovkin has been a fighter on the move in 2015, as he has been moving up the pound for pound with each knockout win and title defense. Golovkin is now set to take on IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux and some feel that ‘GGG’ could move all the way up to the second spot with another dominate win.

In part 2 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio with trainer Abel Sanchez I get his views on Mayweather-Golovkin and if he thinks that fight can still happen. I also talk to Abel about ‘GGG’ facing the winner of Canelo vs. Cotto, and who he thinks would be a bigger match up. Additionally Sanchez gives his views on Golovkin’s pound for pound standing and if he thinks Gennady could ever pass Mayweather on that list. Here is what Abel Sanchez had to say.

Jenna J: Floyd Mayweather he recently finalized a September 12th fight with Andre Berto and while it’s the final fight with a Showtime deal, most people expect him to fight on beyond that fight. Do you think that opens the door to a Golovkin fight if he does continue his career?

Abel Sanchez: I think he fights again, I don’t think it’s over. I think that Mayweather is too much of a historian and too much of a businessman to think that all he wants to do is finish out and hold the record. I think that he’s going to look for challenges beyond that, and if we’re in the mix, Golovkin has professed that as his dream fight for his career. If it happens, I can promise you this, it won’t be a May 2nd fight, Golovkin will stop him.

Jenna J: Pacquiao is set to return somewhere around March or April. What kind of opponent do you think they’ll try to put him in the ring with? Do you think they’ll put him in there with a big time fighter, or do you think they’ll try to ease him back?

Abel Sanchez: No, I think he’s at the level now where there is no tune up fights for him. Unlike this fight coming up for Mayweather, I’m little disappointed that Mayweather took that route. I think that Pacquiao coming back will get a better opponent than Andre Berto. He may fight Khan, I would love to see him and Khan. I think that fight would draw some interest.

Jenna J: Abel, I want to talk about one of your other fighters. Sullivan Barrera recently came back to the ring and had a tougher than expected fight against a late notice opponent. What happened in that match?

Abel Sanchez: These preparation fights that we have, like Sullivan did on that date, these fights are to prepare him for the eventual fight against Kovalev or Stevenson. These fights do more for them to prepare them because now they understand and they seem to get what it is that is necessary not only to practice, but how much harder they have to work to get to that elite level.

Kovalev, Golovkin, Mayweather, Ward, Klitschko, they got there for a reason and the reason is their hard work, dedication and discipline that they put into the gym. It has to be something that they do 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. If they don’t, then we’re not going to ascend to those elite levels.

That fight for Sullivan showed him that there’s a long way to go. I know there’s a long way to go, but I don’t fight for him, he fights for himself inside the ring. If they don’t get what it is that needs to be done to get to that level, then it will be like Adrien Broner getting in the position that he’s in. He seems to have forgotten how hard it is to stay there. For me it was a good fight because he was able to stop the kid, but he was able to endure some of the hard moments in that fight.

Jenna J: Gennady Golovkin is the interim WBC champion, the WBC has mandated that the Canelo vs. Cotto winner actually has to face the winner of Golovkin vs. Lemieux. Do you think the winner of this fight will actually fight that winner?

Abel Sanchez: If Cotto wins against Canelo, I don’t think Cotto wants anything to do with Golovkin. I think he’s running from Golovkin but it doesn’t matter, we’re not after Cotto, we’re after the WBC belt.

If Canelo wins, I would say it’s a strong possibility that Canelo fight us, for a lot of different reasons. I think Oscar wanting to make the best fights but more than anything else, I think that Canelo himself being a young gun and having that Mexican following, he’s not going to shy away from a tough fight. I think that he will take us on and then maybe a rematch once whoever wins. This is the kind of fight that you go two to three fights against each other.

Jenna J: Which one of those opponents do you think is the bigger fight for Golovkin, Canelo or Cotto?

Abel Sanchez: I think Canelo is the bigger fight. I think Canelo brings more of the fan base that Gennady is acquiring also. The Mexicans love their sacrifice and I think anywhere in the States, anywhere in the Southern part of the States, it would be huge. If Canelo beats Cotto then obviously Canelo is the bigger fight. If Cotto beats Canelo I still think Canelo would be the bigger fight because he brings more people to the table.

Jenna J: Back to the fight between Golovkin and Lemieux, how does that fight play out from the opening bell to the finish?

Abel Sanchez: I think that both guys at the beginning will be aware of each other. I think by the time the second round comes around, I think Golovkin will have established his jab and will be pot shotting Lemieux. In the third round, I think they have a good round between the both of them and in the fourth round Golovkin knocks him out.

Jenna J: Do you think Golovkin could surpass Mayweather in the pound-for-pound ranks without Mayweather retiring?

Abel Sanchez: The pound-for-pound rankings, which is a difficult ranking by the fight fans, I think there’s a possibility because he will have higher level opposition once beating Lemieux. If Mayweather continues to do these kinds of opponents like Berto — fans are forgetful, if you don’t do what they want you to do and they forget the things that you’ve done in the past. If Floyd doesn’t continue to impress and to fight the kinds of fights that will impress the fight fans, then yeah I think it will drop him out of the number one spot.