Johnathon Banks, Gennadiy Golovkin’s head trainer, believes his fighter will turn the odds around next Saturday night, when he takes on Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in a trilogy fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In the first two meetings, Golovkin was coached by his former coach Abel Sánchez.
The first fight, in 2017, ended in a controversial twelve-round split draw. The following year, Canelo won a twelve-round majority decision.
Both contests were held at middleweight, with Golovkin moving up to 168 pounds for the third meeting to challenge Canelo for the undisputed super middleweight championship.
Bank has trained Golovkin to show much more than his feared punching power.
“I wish Triple G could show more of an ability,” Banks told the NY Daily News. “He knows he has the punching power. I want people to see his movement, his offense, his quickness.
“He’s a complete fighter and I’m trying to wake that guy up. At the amateurs and the Olympics, he was boxing circles around the guys. That’s what ‘G’ did the first time. He just boxed it out.”
Canelo has been much busier in the ring, with Golovkin, now 40, only fighting four times since their rematch.
But, Canelo is coming off the first loss of his career since 2013. In May, he lost a twelve round unanimous decision to WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.
Bank would like to see Golovkin win by knockout, but they’re not going for a knockout.
“I want the knockout 100 percent, but I don’t want to need it to win,” Banks said. “I’ve told him that you can’t expect a win if you back the whole fight. I would love to keep it in the center of the ring, turn it into a boxing match and see what happens.”
