By Miguel Rivera
Abel Sanchez, trainer for WBC, WBA, IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (38-0-1, 34 KOs), is beaming ear to ear - over his fighter's ability to stand firm on a fair monetary split for the upcoming rematch with Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2, 34 KOs).
The rematch has been finalized for September 15th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
But for several weeks, the two sides were deadlocked on the financial terms.
Golovkin was offered a split of 65-35 - which he rejected and then countered with a 50-50 demand.
Canelo and his handlers issues several deadlines, threatening to kill the fight unless Golovkin accepted the offered terms.
Eventually, Golovkin was able to chip away at that percentage by refusing to fight - until he was offered a split of 45%.
"Golovkin told us he was not going to fight unless they gave him that (45%)," Sanchez said to ESPN Deportes.
"He had already prepared to fight with Billy Joe Saunders for the date of August 25th in the Forum, Golovkin was given a deadline while Golovkin was at the World Cup in Russia, and it makes me happy that a man with principles and character achieved what he wanted, Golovkin did not care about the money.
"He did not care [about losing money], and he showed that because he already had the fight with Saunders, the conditions had been accepted, they had the sponsors and everything. And that's the important thing, what Golovkin was looking for [to get respect], for all of the insults that had happened, for the commission, for the clenbuterol, for how they behaved... they were insults to Golovkin and the sport."
On the agenda with Golovkin, Sanchez said they will start the strong part of their training camp in July, but he will have to travel to Russia with Murat Gassiev for July 21 for the World Boxing Super Series final with Oleksandr Usyk, so the veteran trainer will be absent for a few days, but that should not create any issues.
2023-10-21 07:23:14
