Abel Sanchez: “Team Canelo thinking that Golovkin is deteriorating didn’t have much bearing on why they made the fight”

The fight the boxing world has waited for is now official, as Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez have agreed to fight each other on September 16th. The bout has been talked about for two years and while most did not expect the fight to happen this year, the two camps came to a deal and with Canelo Alvarez’s win, so came the announcement.

In part 1 of my “On The Ropes” boxing radio interview with Abel Sanchez, I discuss with him the announcement of the Golovkin vs. Alvarez bout and his views on why it finally came together. Sanchez also talks about Canelo’s performance against Chavez Jr. and if he felt as though Alvarez should have stopped him. Additionally, Abel talks about where he sees Golovkin in terms of his prime and his views on his last bout against Danny Jacobs. He is what Abel Sanchez had to say.

Jenna J: Abel, it was recently announced that Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez will finally face each other on September 16th. What are your thoughts on the fight coming together?

Abel Sanchez: I’m happy that it’s finally come together, but sometimes we as coaches get a little impatient. I think that the promoters have plans, and most of the times those plans are for the better of the sport and for the better of the fighters. Finally Oscar De La Hoya and Tom Loeffler got together and got it done.

I think the fans were afraid they were going to have to wait as long as they did for Pacquiao and Mayweather, but in this case it was only a couple of years. I think those couple of years kind of built up the fight even more. Sometimes the promoters have their plans and we just have to be patient.

Jenna J: Initially you guys were set to fight Billy Joe Saunders in June. When did you realize that the Canelo fight was going to be a reality?

Abel Sanchez: I think that Tom Loeffler, Erick and Oscar have been talking since our fight with Danny and hoping that everything went okay for them on May 6th. Our fight for Kazakhstan that was scheduled against Saunders didn’t materialize because I think those three minds got together and decided that this was the best way to build it up and to be at the fight on May 6th and build up the fight that we are going to have on the 16th.

I think that it ended up being a better situation for us because we got to be there on May 6th and watch Canelo and have the fans witness that presentation at the end. Now we are hoping that everything goes well and that we all have good training camps and we have a great fight on the 16th.

Jenna J: A lot of people were surprised at how one sided the Canelo-Chavez fight was. Was that a case of Canelo being a very good fighter or do you think Chavez Jr. didn’t show up for the fight?

Abel Sanchez: I was very disappointed in Julio. To me Julio looked like he just made the weight, he wasn’t going to the fight to make it an interesting fight. Canelo did what he had to do. When a guy shows up like that, not giving you that kind of opposition, you beat the heck out of him, and that’s exactly what Canelo did. Canelo looked good with his combinations, fast hands, good movement, very good defense. It’s a shame for the fans that Chavez didn’t show up to fight.

Jenna J: Were you surprised that Canelo wasn’t able to stop him, being how little Chavez offered in the fight?

Abel Sanchez: It got to a point where I think Canelo just got tired of hitting him. It got to the point where Chavez was just trying to survive and make sure that he didn’t get knocked out. When a guy does that, it’s very difficult to land that shot that you want, but I was a little surprised that he didn’t hurt him at least. Maybe Canelo was just cruising it and hoping to build it for the 16th, and not hurt his hands.

Chavez wasn’t posing any kind of resistance, so he there was no reason to put yourself out. Canelo did win handedly, there was no question of the things that he did. For us it was good to watch, for me it was good to watch because I got to see the sequences and how he punches a particular combination, but I was disappointed that he didn’t stop him in the end.

Jenna J: In regard to a Golovkin-Canelo fight, some people think that the Alvarez team are taking the fight now because they think that Gennady has declined to some degree. Do you think that’s the reason why they took it?

Abel Sanchez: That could have a bearing on it a little bit. I think they took the fight because it’s a fight that has been built up and now it’s getting to the crescendo where it’s a fight that the fans have a huge interest in. I’ve gotten a lot of emails, a lot of messages, a lot of questions, the fans are excited.

This is the best fight that can be made for boxing and I think that the timing is perfect for it, being on Independence day and hopefully it’s in a place where the fans appreciate it. I think the timing of it was correct, I don’t think the fact that they think that Golovkin is deteriorating had much bearing on why they made the fight.

Jenna J: Do you believe Golovkin is as good now as he’s ever been as a fighter?

Abel Sanchez: Absolutely. We fought in our last fight the second best middleweight in the world, and you will find that when Golovkin moves to another weight, Jacobs will be the dominant force at 160lbs. Jacobs is going to have the same hard time as we had in trying to get opponents. Not only is he a big guy but he’s very skilled, and when you get to that level, you find that not everybody is going to get knocked out. I was satisfied with the decision, I was satisfied with the way he fought. Fighters need to know that they can go twelve rounds, and I think Golovkin proved to himself that he could go twelve hard rounds and still come out on top.