By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – Abel Sanchez smiled Thursday when he was asked about Gennadiy Golovkin questioning his authenticity as a Mexican.
Golovkin told Univision during a televised interview last week that Sanchez isn’t a true Mexican because Sanchez is from California. The former middleweight champion’s criticism of Sanchez was the latest in the back-and-forth between them since Golovkin and his longtime trainer parted ways late in April.
Sanchez says he didn’t pay Golovkin’s shot at his heritage much mind.
“Well, I was born in Mexico in 1955,” Sanchez told BoxingScene.com. “I was born in Tijuana, Mexico, in 1955. My mother is from Sinaloa. I think that you try to say things to make you right. I think you try to say things to – sometimes when you’re cornered, I guess you try to say things that make it look like there’s nothing wrong. But that’s OK. Look, I’m proud to be a Mexican. He knows I’m Mexican. I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ve said it around him a thousand times. But it’s OK. I’m Mexican.”
Sanchez was at MGM Grand on Thursday because a heavyweight prospect he trains, Italy’s Guido Vianello, is scheduled to fight on the Tyson Fury-Tom Schwarz undercard Saturday night. Vinanello (3-0, 3 KOs), a 2016 Olympian, is set to encounter Keenan Hickman (6-3-1, 2 KOs), of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in a six-round bout at MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Sanchez is most known to boxing fans for his work with Golovkin. He guided Golovkin to a 23-fight knockout streak, 20 straight defenses of the WBA middleweight title and helped make the Kazakh knockout artist a star in the United States.
Their partnership ended when they couldn’t come to an agreement on Sanchez’s compensation after Golovkin signed a three-year, six-fight deal with DAZN in March. That agreement reportedly is worth more than $100 million.
The 37-year-old Golovkin (39-1-1, 35 KOs) knocked out Toronto’s Steve Rolls (19-1, 10 KOs) in the fourth round of his DAZN debut Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Two days before that bout, Golovkin took exception to the suggestion that Sanchez implemented the “Mexican style” that helped make him one of the sport’s most popular boxers.
“I have my Mexican style and different style, you know, right now, like a hybrid,” Golovkin told Univision. “If you ask just special for Abel Sanchez, come on. Abel Sanchez whole life living in California. He’s not Mexican style.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
