By Steve Kim
Abel Sanchez, the trainer of IBF, IBO, WBA WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), had been skeptical in the past whether Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) would ever face his man in the ring.
Well, after Canelo's decisive victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the match-up between the two fighters was announced before the live crowd and the TV audience. The contest will take place on September 16th, with the location and venue to be determined at a later date.
Sanchez admitted that he was - "surprised, but [Golovkin's promoter] Tom [Loeffler] kept me informed for quite awhile. I think they came to an agreement like ten days ago and didn't want to announce it and make it anti-climatic."
Like his boxer, Sanchez was ringside to see Alvarez dominate Chavez over twelve one-sided rounds.
"Canelo looked good, good combinations, good hand speed. Chavez unfortunately paid for all the undisciplined behavior and weight issues of the past ten years. He paid for that because Canelo was a better fighter, he's improved. But yeah, he looked good. The combinations were sharp, he just couldn't hurt him but he's going to have a different guy in front of him on the 16th," said Sanchez.
The fight is still four months away, so when will Golovkin report to the Summit in Big Bear?
"He'll be in camp probably around the middle of July," stated Sanchez. "I don't like him in camp for more than eight weeks. You saw how he's in decent shape. he's only probably about 175 pounds, right now - at the most. And that's because we were in Vegas enjoying ourselves."
As for what Golovkin will do in the meantime, Sanchez stated - "Nothing but enjoy his family, enjoy his son playing hockey and have a good time.''
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com.