Abel Sanchez: “Manny Pacquiao is such a small little guy. It would be like Canelo trying to swat a fly”

Boxing trainer, Abel Sanchez, is hoping for a mega event for the biggest name in his stable of fighters, IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin. The most anticipated fight in boxing is Golovkin vs. Alvarez, and while fans want to see the match happen, it seems more and more unlikely after Canelo vacated his WBC belt. The question now is not when this bout will happen, but who is next for each fighter if it does not?

In part 2 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Abel Sanchez, I discuss with him who might be next for Canelo if he chooses not to fight Golovkin. Sanchez also talks about one of his other fighters, Sullivan Barrera, giving his views on the Andre Ward bout and the light heavyweight division. Additionally, Abel breaks down a Ward-Kovalev fight and talks about what fight could bring Floyd Mayweather a nine figure payday. Here is what Abel Sanchez had to say.

Jenna J: Besides fighting Gennady Golovkin, Canelo has one more option for a super fight, a bout with Manny Pacquiao. What would you think of that fight if it happened?

Abel Sanchez: The way that Canelo goes up in weight after the weigh in, I would fear that it would be much more of a lopsided fight than the Khan fight was, just because Manny is such a small little guy. Manny may be able to get to Canelo for the first few couple of rounds like Khan did, but after that, I think Canelo would figure him out and his size would be too much. It would be like Canelo trying to swat a fly off of his body, especially now that Pacquiao is this old and has slowed down a little bit. I don’t think it’s a fight that the public would want to see — at least I wouldn’t want to see it.

Jenna J: The WBA has mandated that Golovkin can fight his mandatory challenger, Danny Jacobs. Would that be a good fight?

Abel Sanchez: That would be a great fight, but it’s interesting that the WBA would say that when Danny hasn’t been very vocal about anything. I don’t think he’s mentioned Gennady’s name in the last three or four months, or even since he knocked out Quillin. It would be interesting if that’s the fight Danny and his people want to take.

I think that fight in Brooklynn at the Barclay’s Center, or even at The Garden, would be tremendous. It would be a huge fight not only because of Golovkin but because of Danny’s story, being a cancer survivor, coming back from the defeat of Pirog. I think it’s a great story and it could be a huge promotion on the east coast.

Jenna J: Fans haven’t seen Gennady Golovkin get tested yet. Has there been any fighter that has worked with Gennady that has really pushed him and tested him?

Abel Sanchez: No, unfortunately for us there hasn’t been that test in the gym, hopefully we get it in a fight. I see Golovkin being a better 168lb fighter than he is a middleweight. If and when he moves up, he’s going to be a much better fighter because I think he’s going to be able to slow his attack down because these guys will be a little bit slower, and he’ll be able to pin point a little better what he needs to do. I don’t think there’s anybody at 168lbs that’s going to give him trouble either, it’s just a matter of getting more belts and moving on.

Jenna J: I want to talk about Sullivan Barrera’s fight with Andre Ward. What did you see in that fight and what did you think of Andre at light heavyweight?

Abel Sanchez: Sullivan at the time had seventeen fights, the young man is thirty-four years old and we got an opportunity to fight one of the best fighters in the world. We knew going in that it was going to be a very difficult fight. Andre wasn’t at his best but he still beat us, but you can’t have enough superlatives about Andre Ward. Andre Ward is just unbelievably gifted and Virgil Hunter has done a great job.

Andre is not quite where he used to be four years ago, but a in another couple of fights he’ll be at the top again. As far as Sullivan, we lost to the best in the world, he’ll bounce back. Sullivan is in the gym already, hopefully he fights in the next couple of months and we rebound and get a little bit more experience. Hopefully down the line in another ten fights we’ll get that match up again and we can take a better advantage of it than we did this time.

Jenna J: Having seen Andre Ward before, how do you see him doing against Sergey Kovalev?

Abel Sanchez: I would love to see Andre have a couple more fights like the Barrera fight, where a fighter makes Andre think and try to get back those great attributes that he had in the past. If he gets a couple more fights, or even one good one like this, I think that it’s a competitive fight. If he fights him now with no other tune up fights, then I think Kovalev will be a little too much for him.

Jenna J: Floyd Mayweather recently stated that he may come out of retirement for a nine figure payday. What fighters do you think can provide that sort of payday for him to return?

Abel Sanchez: Gennady Golovkin, there’s nobody else. He’s already beaten Canelo, he’s already beaten the other guys in that weight. A Danny Garcia fight is not something the public wants to see. Thurman and Porter have yet to fight, a who knows what kind of fight that’s going to be, and I don’t think that’s even remotely possible for that kind of payday.

It has to be somebody who is at the top, and unfortunately for Mayweather, there’s nobody at 147 or 154 that’s going to give him that kind of payday. If Golovkin is able to get down to 154lbs and they make that kind of fight, I think Golovkin is the only one right now that he hasn’t beaten that would give him that chance to make that kind of money.