On Saturday afternoon at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, former unified middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin announced his new trainer, former cruiserweight and heavyweight contender Johnathon Banks.
When Emanuel Steward passed away, Banks took over as head trainer for one-time heavyweight king Wladimir Klitschko, and the trainer also works with unified women's champion Cecilia Braekhus. Banks was a disciple of Steward and helped the legendary trainer prepare numerous fighters at the Kronk gym.
“I respect this guy,” Golovkin said of Banks. “I hope for a long and big story.”
The move comes after Golovkin parted ways with Abel Sanchez, who trained the boxer for nearly a decade.
Golovkin (39-1-1, 34 KOs) is back on June 8 at Madison Square Garden in New York, and faces Canadian contender Steve Rolls.
The breakup with Sanchez was due to money, as the two were unable to reach an agreement on their financial terms.
Golovkin recently signed a six-fight $100 million deal with the streaming app DAZN.
According to Golovkin's adviser, Tom Loeffler, the boxer only considered Banks for the job and no other trainers were approached.
“He said let me go talk to Johnathon Banks and that was his short list,” Loeffler said. “He made the decision to hire Johnathon before he even trained with him.”
One of the items on Banks' list, in terms of improving Golovkin, is his lack of activity. He felt Golovkin was not busy enough in the bouts with Canelo - which saw them go to a controversial draw in 2017 and Canelo beat GGG via majority decision in the rematch.
“What everyone noticed was the inactivity to him,” Banks said. “He wasn’t as active as most people normally see him. I see the talent in the guy, but I think he can be more active and throw more punches. One thing I can’t stand is walking in the ring with only one way to win.”
