By Vadim Pushkin
Abel Sanchez, trainer for IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, says his fighter will not entertain a catch-weight bout for Amir Khan - should he secure an upset victory over Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez on May 7th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Khan, who just came to the welterweight division in 2014, is moving up by eight pounds to challenge Canelo for the WBC middleweight title at a catch-weight of 155-pounds.
The winner of Canelo-Khan has been ordered, by the World Boxing Council, to make a mandatory title defense against Golovkin in the fall.
Golovkin has an IBF mandatory defense that he must win on April 23rd when he faces Dominic Wade at The Forum in Los Angeles, California.
If Canelo or Khan refuse to face Golovkin in the fall, they will lose the WBC belt and Golovkin - who has the interim title - will become the full champion.
As Sanchez has stated several times in the past, the only fighter who Golovkin would gladly cut weight for - is Floyd Mayweather Jr., who retired last September.
"The only way that Golovkin would make that sacrifice to lose the weight, and he would even go to 154-pounds, would be to fight Floyd Mayweather. He is the only person who offers what he wants -- and I don't mean monetarily, but speaking in boxing terms...the legacy that we leave behind to tell our story. The most important thing for us is the WBC belt [and not who we fight for it]," Sanchez said.
In many interviews, Canelo has stayed firm to his position of only fighting Golovkin at a catch-weight of 155. Golovkin's mandatory status provides him with the power to refuse anything less than the middleweight limit of 160.