Trainer Sanchez Says Now Is the Time For the Top Guns Like Cotto To Accept Golovkin Challenge

So, we have a date for the next installment of the Release the Golovkin! Franchise.

On October 18 in Los Angeles, the fighting pride of Kazakhstan, the good boy with the badarse fists, Gennady Golovkin, will meet vet Marco Antonio Rubio.

Me, I think Rubio gets dropped and stopped before the fight reaches a midway point, as I think Triple G has elevated his game, mainly stemming from the confidence that comes from the seasoning gained against the slightly higher caliber of boxers he has dealt with in the last 16 months or so.

I checked in with Golovkin trainer Honest Abel Sanchez, to get his take on what Rubio brings to the table, and other matters Golovkin.

“According to some people, Rubio has a chance of “exposing the hype,” Sanchez said. The 34-year-old Mexican has a 59-6-1 (51 KOs) record, and has won six straight, against sub A level foes, since his UD12 loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr in February 2012. I stifled my chuckle, and Sanchez continued. “I hope that once he becomes another ‘good boy’ Gennady gets some credit. Unfortunately, to some he is a tough challenge before the fight and a bum after.”

It would be exceedingly disrespectful to term the man a bum, I wouldn’t go there. But he’s come up short in title cracks to Kelly Pavlik (2009) and Junior. His best wins, over David Lemieux (2011) and against Domenico Spada a few months ago, stand out for the fact that neither man is anything like a Golovkin. But I don’t find an ounce of fault in this match being made, and any frustration I feel is directed at some folks who could and arguably should be calling out Golovkin, challenging him in a test of supremacy. Sanchez feels the same way. “What needs to be done is the questioning of the so-called top guns, and they should be asked, ‘Have you been offered the fight with Gennady, or have you made an offer to fight Gennady?’ We’d see what the answers are, and we will see how many really want the fight!”

Those top guns include Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto and Canelo Alvarez, and I don’t disagree an iota with Sanchez.

“So we just have to stay busy and whomever will accept and keep building up bigger demand from the fans,” he said.

And what about an Andre Ward?

“Ward would be a very difficult negotiation,” he said. I take that to mean Team Golovkin gets it and accepts that Floyd, Cotto and Canelo are A side draws, and would negotiate accordingly, while Ward isn’t an A side draw, but doesn’t accept that status, and thus, negotiations would bog down before getting started…There are those folks, though, who think Team Golovkin has excessive respect for Ward’s ring acumen, and are not inclined to let Triple G’s gaudy record get tainted by Ward, whose punch ‘n clinch style represents a poor risk-reward ratio.

I shifted to Rubio. Does he present any particular problem?

Sanchez was stumped. He thought…and pondered. “Um, experience? I mean, I can try and BS you on how difficult this fight will be, but I have been saying for several years what a special fighter Gennady is, so why say something different? I just hope Rubio is a man of his word, and makes it a fight!”

Prediction please. “It will depend on Rubio,” the trainer said. “I see Rubio trying to survive after feeling the first meaningful shot. Triple G is on a roll, once he gets distance and figures out your timing, nobody at middleweight survives long.”

Presumably, that includes Miguel Cotto…

“You have to think Golovkin’s name will come up when Miguel begins opponent discussions, because Cotto is the so-called lineal middleweight champion. And if not, Cotto needs to answer why not, at least make Golovkin an offer, maybe we can turn it down, or maybe not.”

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