Abel Sanchez, trainer of IBO, WBA, WBC, IBF middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), expects his fighter to wear down Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) by the eight or ninth round.
The highly anticipated HBO Pay-Per-View fight takes place on November 16th.
After nearly two years of hype, the contest was officially announced earlier month after Canelo dominated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. over twelve rounds at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Golovkin saw action in March, when he went the twelve round distance for the first time in his career with a close unanimous decision win over mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs.
Against Canelo, Sanchez is expecting the Mexican superstar to do well in the early going with his rapid hand speed and combination punching. As the fight plays out, Sanchez predicts that his boxer will wear down Canelo, round by round, until the challenger is ready to go or simply survives until the final bell.
"I think that early on the speed of Canelo and the combination punching that he does, but while he’s punching in those combinations, he’s going to get caught in between. Both guys are going to hit each other, that’s a given. I think in between those punches that Canelo’s throwing, eventually by the third or fourth round he will be getting caught in the middle of those and get hurt," Sanchez told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.
"I think when Canelo hits Golovkin and he can’t hurt him, it will be a totally different mindset for the corner. We as trainers are going to have to be on our P’s and Q’s and make sure that we have the answer for whatever the other side is doing. I think eventually past the eight or ninth round, Golovkin will have worn him down enough to either stop him or win the last few rounds and a decision."