Abel Sanchez: “Jeff Horn doesn’t have the skills to deal with a good Manny Pacquiao”

Abel Sanchez is now ten weeks away from the biggest fight he has ever trained a boxer for, Golovkin vs. Canelo. Sanchez has trained IBO champion Gennady Golovkin for seven years and has seen his fighter become one of the biggest named fighters in the sport and seen him collect the IBO/IBF/WBA/WBC title belts at middleweight. The fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is seen by many as the biggest credible fights that could be made in the sport and the winner of the fight could be seen as the sport’s best fighter, pound-for-pound.

In part 3 of my interview with Abel Sanchez, I get his thoughts on the upcoming Manny Pacquiao-Jeff Horn bout and his views on motivating a boxer for a fight that he is expected to win easily. Sanchez also gives his prediction for Canelo vs. GGG and talks about whether this bout will live up to the hype. Additionally, Abel shares his views on Denis Shafikov’s upcoming fight against Robert Easter and shares a message with the fans. Here is what Abel Sanchez had to say.

Jenna J: Manny Pacquiao will be facing Jeff Horn this weekend. What do you think of that fight and what would you do as a trainer to keep Pacquiao motivated going into this fight against an unknown fighter?

Abel Sanchez: Jeff Horn is not a known guy and I think these guys at that level deserve an unknown once in a while. I think it’s up to Freddie, and he’s a great coach, but it’s up to him to make sure that Manny doesn’t have a let down.

I think that sometimes those unknowns instead of giving you a let down, they kind of spice you up because you don’t know that much about them. You can go out there and fight like you were when you were in a four or six round fight that you knew nothing about. Jeff Horn doesn’t have the skills to deal with a good Manny Pacquiao, but I think those fights are necessary for Manny to build up for the next fight. Freddie has been there too many times to allow that to happen.

Jenna J: You also have another one of your fighters fighting for a title, Denis Shafikov will be taking on Robert Easter Jr. This will be Shafikov’s third try at a title, do you think the third time will be the charm?

Abel Sanchez: We hope so, we’re fighting another tall guy with very good skills. We’re fighting a guy from a very good program in Ohio. We feel that this time Denis understands what was left off in the last two challenges and I think this time he will be successful.

Jenna J: Going back to Gennady Golovkin, how do you think his fight with Canelo Alvarez plays out from the opening bell to the finish?

Abel Sanchez: It’s a difficult fight for both guys, I think both guys get hit. I think Alvarez will get hurt, I think Golovkin wins 116-112 on the cards, or stops him in the eleventh or twelfth round.

Jenna J: This fight has been built up for a while, do you think it will live up to the hype?

Abel Sanchez: I think these are two guys that are going to come forward, two guys that are going to throw punches and are not afraid to get hit. It’s two guys that have excellent power and good defensive skills, so it’s going to be a fight until somebody takes over.

It’s a fight that is going to be very exciting and dramatic for the fans. When that one particular fighter takes over, which will be around the seventh or eight round, I think that’s when Golovkin will take over and dominate. Not that Canelo is not going to be in the fight, he’s going to be in the fight because he’s a warrior, but I think we’re going to be treated to a great fight.

Jenna J: Is there any message you want to pass along to the fans?

Abel Sanchez: I’d like to thank all of your fans for consistently keeping you on the radio and having us giving you all these tidbits on what’s going on with us, that way our sport keeps growing and developing.