By Victor Salazar
New York- If there is someone not counting out welterweight titleholder Kell Brook (36-0, 25 KO’s) when he moves up to take on unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (35-0, 32 KO’s) - it’s Golovkin’s head trainer Abel Sanchez.
“I believe he’s the best welterweight,” Sanchez told BoxingScene.com. "I have the comparison of Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler. I’m not saying he’s Ray Leonard but people thought Marvin Hagler was going to kill Leonard but look what happened.”
Sanchez, like many in Golovkin’s team, expects Brook to weigh just as much if not more than GGG come fight night. He also expects Brook and his team to have a better game plan than prior foes.
“I see him on fight night weighing more than Golovkin,” Sanchez said. “On fight night he usually gains 13 or more pounds He says he drops like 25 pounds for each fight to make weight for the fight. On fight night we’ll see if he can muscle Golovkin. Other guys have ran from Golovkin, and we see if they choose to not be in distance and see if that work. He has the best trainers in England.”
When asked about the difference between Golovkin-Brook and Canelo-Khan, Sanchez feels its simple. Amir Khan is a much smaller man than Brook.
“Amir Khan got knocked out at 135 and 140,” explained Sanchez. “He started out as a lightweight and everyone he’s fought has put him down and hurt him, that’s little guys at welterweight, Brook doesn’t know how to lose. There’s a little different in height but size wise, they’re about the same. That’s a big difference, he knows how to win and doesn’t know how to lose. Going over to England is an advantage. Whether he can withstand what Gennady has we’ll see.”
When the time comes around Sanchez feels Golovkin will feel the same criticism as being too small for bigger divisions.
“Eventually the same articles will be written when Gennady moves up to 168 and even 175 pounds. He’s too small, small middleweight fighting a bigger guy.”
Golovkin vs. Brook takes place on September 10th at the O2 Arena in London.
