Abel Sanchez, trainer of IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), believes a knockout victory is easily within his fighter's reach - if Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) makes good on his promise to go for a knockout by fighting in a Mexican style.
The two boxers will collide on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as the headline bout of an HBO Pay-Per-View event.
Canelo will be taking part in his first bout at the full middleweight limit of 160-pounds, where Golovkin has dominated for years with deadly force.
Sanchez has a few scenarios in his head on how the contest will play out.
He doubts Canelo will be capable of fighting from the outside or he will be forced to eat Golovkin's jab - and if he fights from the inside then he places himself in the dangerzone.
The veteran trainer believes all of the pressure is on Canelo to make a spectacular fight in the ring - because of the sell-out crowd of Mexican fans and the contest falling on Mexican Independence Day weekend.
"I think the first 3 or 4 rounds is going to be difficult for both guys, assimilating the speed, assimilating the movement, figuring out what kind of tactic one or the other guy has. I think by the fourth round is when they get down to it, but Canelo being a Mexican and having all these people behind him, he’s got a lot of pressure on him, he’s got a lot of pressure to perform. He’s got a lot of pressure to perform like the old Mexican’s used to perform and if he does that and he’s in front of Golovkin, then he’s going to be knocked out," Sanchez told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"In my opinion, his best tactic would be to try and box Golovkin from the outside, but that will be a problem too as Lemieux found out because Golovkin had a great jab. So, I think the pressure is on Canelo to make sure he makes it a fight, Golovkin always comes forward and always fights, so what kind of fight is it going to be, I hope it’s one of those fights we remember for a long long time."
