By Keith Idec

LAS VEGAS – It should benefit Gennady Golovkin if Canelo Alvarez stands and trades with him Saturday night more than Alvarez did during their first fight.

That’s not the only reason Abel Sanchez hopes the Mexican icon keeps his word and exchanges with Golovkin more in their rematch at T-Mobile Arena. Golovkin’s veteran trainer believes Alvarez owes that to the fans who are willing to pay roughly $85 to watch their second bout on pay-per-view.

The suggested retail price for the Alvarez-Golovkin rematch is $10 more than it cost to watch their September 2017 fight in HD.

“I think that in order to win the fight, you have to want to win the fight,” Sanchez said before a press conference Wednesday at MGM Grand.

“And you saw the show on Saturday night – there were three fights with six guys who were trying to win a fight. That’s, I think, all we expect. We’re not gonna pay 90 bucks to see somebody run again. So if he wants to win the fight, and he can employ any kind of tactic he wants, but just try to win the fight.”

Sanchez has chastised Alvarez for “running” since Golovkin and Alvarez battled to a controversial 12-round draw last September 16 at T-Mobile Arena. Alvarez scoffs at Sanchez’s criticism and contends he boxed versus Golovkin in their first fight.

The 28-year-old Alvarez has promised, however, that their first fight gave him the confidence to exchange more with Golovkin in their rematch. Sanchez suspects Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs) still will exercise caution Saturday night, just like he did during his initial battle with Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs).

“The fact is [Alvarez] has been telling everybody and he has promised the fans that he’s gonna knock him out,” Sanchez said. “In order to do that, you have to be at range. A lot of times I get asked why didn’t [Golovkin] throw any body shots. How many body shots did Canelo throw?”

As Golovkin’s trainer, Sanchez understands it wouldn’t be wise for Alvarez to get reckless against a huge puncher like the WBA/WBC/IBO middleweight champion. If Sanchez were preparing Alvarez to challenge Golovkin, he’d encourage him to take more chances, yet to attack Golovkin intelligently.

 “I’d tell him to fight smart, but I’d tell him to win the rounds to win the fight,” Sanchez said. “I would tell him to use the skills that we’ve developed, just like we’ve done with [Golovkin]. Everybody’s got a different style, but we have to use our skills to try to win. His defense is very good. He’s a good counter-puncher. Try to counter-punch. And in the middle of that, he’s gonna leave himself exposed.

“That’s where fighters like this and Julio Cesar Chavez and some of the greats that had those styles took advantage of a situation, punched in between punches, catch him in between. So if he’s willing to do that, if he’s willing to at least use his skills to try to win, then we’ll have a better fight.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.