Abel Sanchez [POST FIGHT] reddit Q&A

[UNBIASED BOXING]

First of all congratulations on a great performance.

My question is when you told Gennady that he was losing the fight in between rounds, did you have a sense that he was losing or were you trying to will him into being more aggressive and taking more risk?

I thought it was an even fight up to that point honestly. But the reason I said that, I whispered it into his ear so it was more for him, even though I was miked, I wanted it to be a motivational thing, to try to distance himself.

What was the first thing GGG said to you after the fight when you guys got back to the locker room?

I can't believe we lost, I thought I won. I agreed with him, I thought we won too, but we can't change what the judges ruled, but we thought we won, the people thought we won.

In post fight interviews you implied that Gennady was not following your instructions and had also previously said a similar thing about Gassiev not following your fight plan against Usyk.

Do you see it as a problem that they did not listen to you, or is it more a case that their opponents did not allow them to fight the way you wanted them to?

No, my quote was not that they didn't listen, it was when fighters get into the ring, we've discussed a plan of what to do, but when they're in the ring they see things we don't see from the outside. They're gonna do what they see in front of them, so then our best approach is to coach, counsel, advise what we see if they can use it. If they can't, they're going to do what they do best, and that's what they should do anyway. And I never said that about Gassiev.

Was spending more time attacking Canelo's body part of the game plan? If so, has Gennady specifically told you why he pretty much ignored going to the body in the last two fights?

The game plan was to attack everything. You go into a fight with certain things you want to do, but when it starts, Gennady's the one that sees the opportunities and he's going to do what he thinks he sees.

If you can't get a rubber match with Canelo, who would you like to see Gennady fight next?

Either BJ Saunders for the WBO title, or whoever wins with Andrade and BJS, or Ryoto Murata who is the WBA regular champion.

Any consideration into moving up to 168lbs?

Not saying he struggled to make 160, but maybe it'll breathe new life into his body if he doesn't have to cut as much weight in this day and age?

I think that that's a decision for Gennady, and at this point he hasn't discussed it with us. Until he does, then we'll approach that.

Will Gennady retire if he can't get the rematch ?

Absolutely not. WE have other fights that are possible, the Saunders fight, the Murata fight which is very possible, those are fights that motivate him.

Is Canelo the hardest puncher that GGG has ever faced?

Edit: Thank you for doing this btw. You got more important stuff you could be doing like training world class fighters, and we know that. So this really means a lot to us.

No. I would say David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens. Canelo's probably the fastest middleweight, and probably the smartest in the ring.

Is Golden boy the biggest pain in the ass?

Hahaha, you know what Golden Boy is one of the biggest promoters, but on my end they made it difficult to do my job, a difficult promotion, with security, with everything pertaining to the fight itself.

Gennady appeared noticeably fatigued quite early on in the fight. In the corner, he was breathing so rapidly. I've never seen him so exhausted in a fight before. What do you feel were the main contributing factors for his fatigue?

No, I disagree with that. Gennady is, some European amateur systems encourage that deep breathing, and when he was coming up as an amateur that was encouraged in the corner, a lot of them do that, breathe deep in to fill their lungs. If he had been fatigued, he wouldn't have been able to do what he did in the 11th and 12th.

Abel,

First, I think I can speak for everyone when I say that we really appreciate you doing these AMAs.

Now, to address the elephant in the room...

Golovkin didn't look like himself for much of the first half of the fight. He seemed slower, more hesitant, and like last fight he also seemed very reluctant to throw body shots. The result was that he was unable to pressure Canelo backwards, which in my opinion was key in why he lost the fight.

Now, some of this is obviously due to who he had in front of him, but I have to ask, was this just an off night where he was slow to get started, or do you think that at 36 years old and after 390 cumulative amatuer and professional fights, he's starting to noticeably deteriorate physically?

If it is the case where age is starting to catch up with him, have you considered doing any different work for him in training? (E.g., weight training, a slighty different fight strategy, etc.)

No, I asked a fan that asked that question if he thought Canelo looked good or looked great. I think Canelo fought a great fight, Golovkin fought a great fight, we were in the midst of a classic like Hagler-Leonard. We can say that Hagler didn't look like himself that fight, but he looked great.

Do you feel any pressure to change your training style now that GGG and Murat both suffered losses?

Absolutely not. We have a 92% winning average in my gym, Golovkin has the KO ratio of all time, 20 defenses of his title, Gassiev was in a tournament that pitted the best against the best and made the finals. Absolutely not, our success is due to our system. I have two other world champions in my gym also.

Hi Abel, were you surprised with Canelos game plan of standing his ground and exchanging? Were you also surprised at how Gennady reacted to the game plan? Thank you very much for coming back.

No, we discussed that prior to the fight. We knew he would have to stand there and fight because of pressure by the media and the fans. I think we controlled the fight with the jab, which I'm surprised Gennady didn't get credit for. But no, I'm not surprised because he had to.

How is Gennady reacting to the loss? Does he feel it was a fair decision?

Every team always feels like they won the fight when they lose. We feel we won, everyone seems to think we won, except the two judges that scored the 12th for Canelo. Al Bernstein watched the fight without the commentators and he scored the 12th easily for Golovkin, so of course we felt like we won, we felt like we won that night.

He's disappointed, a little angry that Vegas seems to favor the house fighter. There's nothing we can do to change the decision, so we discussed how we're going to...how we're gonna approach questions about it. We feel Gennady is the people's champion, the people feel he won, so that's what we're thinking.

Hi Abel, love watching GGG fight. To me he’s still undefeated, and I thought a draw was the right decision for this fight. A younger Gennady would have never let a opponent take control of ring like Canelo did last Saturday. In an interview you said “I’ll be the first to tell you when Gennady gets old.” How do you feel after witnessing this fight?

Again, to say he wasn't 100% would be dissing the effort. Did we not have a classic fight? Did we not have a great 11th and 12th round? It was two great fighters in there. Canelo's effort was great, so how can I say Golovkin's wasn't? We didn't not get the nod because of age, but because two judges felt Canelo won the 12th round and a lot of people feel he didn't.

Why did Gennady not stay in the ring for a post-fight interview?

Because...big celebration in the ring for Canelo, Gennady called me over and said, let him have his time, it's his moment. We'll have time for interviews for us later. He wanted to allow CAnelo that moment, there had been some hot words, some issues, but there's no reason to quell that moment, let that moment stay for Canelo is what he was saying.

How do you rate billy joe Saunders?

I think he's in the top 5 middleweights in the world, if not top 3. Canelo because he happened to win this fight, Golovkin, Billy Joe, Murata's up there, I don't know about how Andrade's gonna do, Charlo's up there. Andrade's gonna have to prove that he belongs at middleweight.

Hi Abel, first of all, great job this weekend! A hell of a fight!

Now, Without a trainer bias, what were the things that you liked that Canelo did in this fight?

Thank you!

Everything. He fought the fight we wanted him to fight, that gave the fans an opportunity to see two great fighters try to outdo each other.

Abel how do you feel as a mexican seeing the celebrations during and after the fight? Was it bittersweet?

No. I felt disappointed. I don't look at this sport as a race-related sport. To me they're all fighters, gladiators, warriors. Color doesn't enter into my mind. I was disappointed because we lost, according to the judges. We felt we won, did enough, but the judges decided it was the other way around.

I know this isn’t a question regarding the fight or Gennady but I was wondering how the early stages of your work with Joe Joyce is going and what hopes do you have for him going forward?

It's going very well. He's a very talented fighter, very big guy, still a little inexperienced but he's a listener, he does everything we ask. It's just a matter of time. The unortunate thing is he's 32 years old, so he might not have time off to progress in the manner of a younger guy.

I don't think I've ever seen two boxers as well matched as Alvarez and Golovkin. Most of the rounds in both fights I've felt could be justified being given to either fighter depending on the style you like, because they both do the "things they do" so well. Just want to say that my opinion of both fighters has risen after each fight.

Did you expect them to be this closely matched? And if a third match comes as I think everybody in the world wants, what do you think can or should be done to get Golovkin to get the edge and win more rounds decisively?

I couldn't agree with this question more than I do because from the beginning, 2-3 years ago, I said this would be a rivalry that would go 3-4 fights. I was confident that this could be a rivalry for all times because CAnelo was becoming a full fledged middleweight. I was hoping it wouldn't be too late in their careers. There's one round that separates them in both fights, both could have gone either way. You're right on.

In the first match GGG dictated the fight on the front foot and the fight was a Draw. In the rematch he fought more on the back foot for large parts of the fight, landing effectively with his jab and the judges gave the decision to Canelo.

Over the 2 fights, it seems highly unfortunate and unjust that GGG didn't receive at least one W. Mentally, how does GGG move on from this, not just in the near future but after he retires. Is this the type of thing that can play on a boxers mind for the rest of his life?

No. Before he came to me he was a boxer from the outside, from the back foot, and all those skills he has in the tank. He decided in parts to dictate with his jab, combinations from the outside. If you look at Compubox, he led on all fronts except body punches. We boxed him to begin the second fight.

Hi Abel, Which are the easiest countries to find *******s?

*I think the OP edited this question after Abel responded. Lol, what a *****ing troll.

I would say, Thailand, Monte Carlo, and anywhere in Mexico.

After the two big paydays against Canelo, do you think GGG is looking to continue building his legacy now and might add a few more top names to his resume? I still think Gennady is the best in the division and would love to see him against Charlo, BJS, Jacobs again, Andrade, Derevyanchenko. But some of those are tough fights at this stage in his career and wouldn’t be as incentivizing as facing Canelo again.

Also, have you and Chocolatito ever talked about becoming his head trainer? He looked good back when he was training in Big Bear. I think he could still make another great run if he is able to find that motivation and switch up his training a bit.

Gennady has always said that this is a sport for him, it's not about the money. He's got a lot of money, he's got great investments, but he doesn't own a car, doesn't own a home, he's made investments so he's well off. The sport part is more important, and the motivation for the bigger names is what's important.

Abel one of Gennady’s greatest weapons in the ring was his astonishing power that seemed to break down his opponents will.

I am curious as to your thoughts on why Canelo seems to handle GGG’s power so well as opposed to past opponents.

Thanks!

We're at the elite level, where there's guys like Gennady that can take a shot. There's guys that today and in the past that can take a shot at the elite level and give us thrilling fights. Canelo's one of them, he took some very very good shots. He wobbled a little in the 11th or 10th, but he stood up so he's obviously one of those elite guys.

You obviously don’t know how judges are scoring for sure, but what did your gut tell you the scores looked like going into the 12th round?

I told him in the corner that we needed this round, all 3 minutes of the round, because I felt being in Vegas with all the controversies, we needed to win it to make sure. I thought we won it. Al Bernstein did some commentary on Twitter that he scored it for Golovkin easily, so I thought we did it, and I thought we won the fight.

Last AMA I claimed GGG's ability off the back-foot was regressing under you, but you responded by claiming his stylistic changes were to please the fans. After Canelo had so much success coming out unexpectedly with sustained pressure, do you have any regrets?

Absolutely not. Again, I say, if I say that Golovkin didn't do 100%, that's dissing the other guy's effort. Both guys fought a great fight. Most of the commentary on social media had Golovkin winning 8-4, 7-5. We won the fight in the public anyway, that's why he's the people's champion. The judges saw something different than millions of people did.

If you could train any animal to box, which animal would you choose and why?

Hahaha, that's funny. Probably a kangaroo. I've seen them throw some punches in clips, maybe in their ancestry they were fighters in a way.

Are there any opponents you wish Gennady had faced but for certain circumstances he missed out?

Yeah, I would have loved to see him against Sergio Martinez when he first won the WBC, healthy Sergio. I would have loved to see Chavez, a healthy Chavez at 160 instead of 190, I would have loved to see him face Sturm who had beaten Oscar in the US and was robbed. Dmitry Pirog would have been a good fight, he had a great outing against Jacobs on HBO, and then looked terrible against Maciel a 154, he happened to look good but eveyrone put him on a pedestal.

What can you do in the future to better control ‘The Story of the Fight?”

You know what, I don't watch the HBO guys because all 3 of them are biased. Max Kellerman is in a world of his own, watching something other people aren't watching, so I don't really watch them. He's by far one of the most biased commentators on TV.

On TV, Gennady’s defensive movements and footwork seemed a half step slow. Do you agree with that? If so, did Gennady have any physical ailments that impacted his performance?

If we put Gennady on such a pedestal that we expect for him to dominate everybody the way he dominated earlier in his career, then we're being very demanding of somebody to be the same thing in every fight. These guys are getting better, like when Hagler fought Leonard, or Leonard fought Hearns, or Hagler fought Duran. It's two guys going at each other at the top of the game. Nobody had an off night, and it came to one round, so let's not diss the effort, let's celebrate that they gave us the fight we expected.

Did Canelo do anything that surprised you, tactically?

No. We already had 12 rounds under our belt. We knew he could box, slug, stand and throw punches. He did what I thought he would do, he did it very well.

Assuming that there is not a rematch in 2019, how many times do you want to see GGG fight next year?

I would love to see him fight a minimum of 2 times, maybe 3, next year.

Will gennady stay with HBO or will he become freelance now

From what I understand, both guys, this was their last fight with HBO so I don't know. Gennady has his advisers and promoter that will make those decisions. I coach him, and that's good enough for me.

Hi Abel. If there is a rematch, would you try and push for it to be at a different venue? Would be great to see it at Wembley!

Ah, no. I would say no. All the big fights are either in Vegas or New York depending on the time of year and what the powers that be agree to. The promoters, wherever the best is for the fighters and themselves. For us, it's still a ring, an opponent and a referee inside.

Is there ever any language barriers when discussing the fight plan?

Never. He actually understands very good, the English language. He has a limited vocabulary so it's hard for him to express his feelings, but he understands everything. This time, there was a translator after the fight, but he understands very well.

Do you believe Canelo has now entered the pantheon of great Mexican boxers alongside the likes of Barrera, Chavez, Morales, Sanchez etc?

Absolutely. With the effort he put on, against another great fighter, absolutely.

How likely is it that GGG’s next fight will be outside the U.S.?

That's a question I can't answer. I don't do that. I train Gennady, his advisers and Tom Loeffler will do that. We'll train for a fighter and not a location.

Hi Abel, thanks for your time!

What is your approach in handling a fighter after a loss? Not necessarily GGG, but in general. People really don't talk too much about what it's like to come together and regroup.

You know, we have to have very short memories. We have to have the ability to upt that on the back burner and learn from it. Regarding how it was approached, why if we feel we won what the deciding factor was for the judges. The 12th round was important in this fight, we thought we won it, if we had to knock someone down or out in certain cities. So you have to go back and rehash and learn from defeats or something that's not positive.

How do you think history will judge Gennady against other top historic middleweights like the Sugar Rays, Hagler, Hearns, and Duran?

I think we have to wait 20-25 years. All those things are done in the future, but just the fact that he owns the KO ratio for middleweights all time, that has to be one of the things people talk about, the defenses he made tying Bernard Hopkins, he did it without a no contest int he middle of it like Hopkins. The fact that he went to this level on HBO, some o the numbers he generated, those are important. People will judge him on those merits.

How did you score the fight?

Absolutely, I score every round, I keep it in my head. I was, in the 12th, I felt we were 1 round up. I felt it was 6-5 going into the 12th, so I just wanted the 12th round to be more decisive. Not that I thought we were 6-5, but I took into account we were in Vegas, it was more 7-4 really, but taking into consideration where you're at. That's why I tried to implore him that I needed this round just to be sure.

Have you had the time to talk to ggg? If so, what according to him was his game plan this time around? He seems to have completely fought a different fight than the first fight.

Of course we've had time to talk. We go over what happened, how they feel, how I feel. You lost the fight according to the judges but you have your health, you have your family, there's a lot of thingsg that are more important than not getting the nod from the judges. They're both still healthy, they'll go on with their families, but there's no remorse, hatred, vindictiveness. If you notice the hug after the 12th ended, I'm sure what they said will be confidential forever, but there was mutual respect. That was the microcosm of the fight. It should be known that these two guys gave it their all.

How upset is Gennady about losing the belts? I know being champion was very important to him, so is the priority now to win the belts back or does he just want to finish out his career with a few big fights?

No, he's very upset. The priority is to win belts back, as many as possible.

Hi Abel and thank you for doing this AMA!

A lot of questions about G. Golovkin, but I'd like to ask a few about Murat Gassiev, as I'm a big fan of his.

During his fight with Usyk, Murat looked two dimensional, very frustrated and as if in panic due to not knowing how to respond to Usyk's incredible performance. The more comfortable Usyk got, the less "smartly" Gassiev fought. I loved how Murat never, even for a second, thought about backing and how he fought with all of his heart.

I bet you've already analyzed with Murat the fight and have a plan for welding a stronger and better IRON. Could you please give us an insight on the things that Murat will concentrate on learning/developing? Also, any thoughts on Murat's future would be highly appreciated !

Thank you again,
M.

Edit: I've just seen it's a post-fight follow-up AMA for the GGG vs Canelo Alvarez, so my question is not appropriate.... my bad.

First of all, we fought a gold medalist at cruiserweight, we fought a guy with a lot of intl experience, he fought all the big names as an amateur. And our guy had 25 amateur fights, never traveled, never had the experience that Usyk has. We had a tournament format where you don't pick who you fight. We fought two fighters who were more stationary, and when we got to Usyk our inexperience showed.

He's 24 years old, he's learning in the gym, but it all can't be learned in 1-2 years. It has to be learned in fights with guys like Usyk.

Do you plan on subscribing to DAZN?

Of course. I subscribe to ESPN+, and I'm gonna subscribe to that one. We have to support our sport, so yes.

In your opinion, in which fight did we see GGG in his absolute prime?

That's very difficult to say because I felt that he looked exceptional in this fight, because of what's across from him. You can look great against somebody subpar, but doesn't mean you're at your best. If you can look good against someone like Canelo, that's the test. It depends on what's in front of you.

Not related to the big fight, but was wondering: What do you think of Arsen Goulamirian's future going forward? How far do you think he can go in the cruserweight division?

I think he's gonna be a very very good cruiserweight, champion, a force to be reckoned with. I was doing an interview yesterday saying referees need to keep an eye on his opponents because he has a manner and a way of going about his business with very bad hurt intentions.

Hi Abel, how do you unwind after a big fight? Do you have something outside of boxing that you do to keep busy?

Yeah, I have 10 other fighters in my gym. we have 2 other fights this month, 4 in October, 4 in November and 3 in world title fights. In other words, I don't get to unwind.

What kind of training did your team do differently this time around for fight #2? Was there anything that was done differently from fight #1?

It was the same.

If GGG can’t get a third fight, how does a fight with David Benavidez sound?

You know what, that fight was offered at one time to them. They felt they weren't ready. David is a great young champion, he's been in our gym before. Gennady sparred with him when he was 16 years old in our gym. But that's something the advisors, the situation would have to be contemplated. Gennady's at a point now where Benavidez is not really on the radar because of his lack of stature, notoriety.

[mcdonalds]

Lmfao on fight night he said GGG lost the 12th. Once he saw that Lit gee's delusional fans and biased boxing media were arguing that he won the 12th, abel decided to change his mind.

News flash, just because jim lampley decided not to call the majority of punches canelo landed in that round doesnt mean they didn't land.

[Eff Pandas]

How the eff does GGG not own a house?

[vaynardevil]

dont think he can beat canelo in 3rd match if ever happen
he felt body punches and suffered

[TonyGe]

How the eff does GGG not own a house?

Or car!!!!

[TheSlickster]

How the eff does GGG not own a house?

He is actually smart. He is probably very conservative with his spending and lives modestly(He'll live super comfortable once he retires). Where he lives, he and his family probably only have to walk to get where they need or he probably only uses cars when he needs to. Plus having a house, he probably doesn't care to....just rents when needed.

[Eff Pandas]

He is actually smart. He is probably very conservative with his spending and lives modestly(He'll live super comfortable once he retires). Where he lives, he and his family probably only have to walk to get where they need or he probably only uses cars when he needs to. Plus having a house, he probably doesn't care to....just rents when needed.

Real estate is usually a good investment. Unless he has no idea where he wants to live when he retires or just wants to travel the world anyway.

The car thing I can understand better. You need a car less & you can rent cars for much cheaper, lease cars or even uber when you need it. But you need a place to sleep for you & your family every day of the year.

[Sable&Whitefish]

Thanks for sharing this is excellent, really insightful stuff. Abel gets a bad rap for being a loudmouth when he's usually just trying to promote a fight and speak on behalf of a (generally) humble fighter. This shows he's a thoughtful guy and probably smarter about boxing and in general than people give him credit for.

[Sable&Whitefish]

Lmfao on fight night he said GGG lost the 12th. Once he saw that Lit gee's delusional fans and biased boxing media were arguing that he won the 12th, abel decided to change his mind.

News flash, just because jim lampley decided not to call the majority of punches canelo landed in that round doesnt mean they didn't land.

I scored the 12th for GGG when I watched it live. Maaaaaaybe if I go back I might see it for Canelo. It's not that unreasonable to change your opinion on who won a round especially if you watch it without the pressure and stress of a live event.

[TonyGe]

He is actually smart. He is probably very conservative with his spending and lives modestly(He'll live super comfortable once he retires). Where he lives, he and his family probably only have to walk to get where they need or he probably only uses cars when he needs to. Plus having a house, he probably doesn't care to....just rents when needed.

Yeah the old saying, "a house is just a hole in the ground where you pour in money" is not just a punch line to a joke.