By Dan Ambrose: IBF/WBA middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez has some advice for Golovkin’s opponent Willie Monroe Jr. (19-1, 6 KOs) for his fight this Saturday night against Golovkin; Sanchez feels that the 28-year-old Monroe needs to stay off the ropes, and focus instead on staying in the center of the ring if he wants to have a chance of beating the 33-year-old Golovkin.
Sanchez feels that Monroe tries to be slick when he backs up against the ropes in his fights, and he doesn’t think that style will work too well for him against an intelligent fighter like Golovkin.
“I would make him [Monroe] not hang on the ropes like he has a habit of doing,” Sanchez said to Fightnews.com. “He wants to be slick against the ropes and let guys punch at him, and I think that’s a mistake. I would stay in the middle of the ring and make sure Gennady comes at me, and then counter him. That’s his best chance.”
It’s refreshing that a trainer like Sanchez is willing to give advice ahead of time to an opponent of his fighter because not too many trainers would be willing to do that. But that also tells you how confident that Sanchez is in Golovkin. He figures that even if Monroe fights the perfect fight by staying off the ropes and keeping in the center of the ring, he’ll still wind up losing to Golovkin.
The fight will definitely be a lot more interesting to watch if Monroe makes sure the stays in the center of the ring. At least that way it will be a cat and mouse type of affair for as long as it lasts. But if Monroe backs up against the ropes like he frequently did in his last fight against Brian Vera last January then this fight is going to be a really one-sided affair with Golovkin likely hurting Monroe with something big and then taking him out quickly.
Monroe did a good job of nullifying the best shots from Vera by using movement. When Monroe did stop against the ropes, he was able to counter Vera with quick combinations. But still, Vera was able to land hard body shots when Monroe would become stationary. He wasn’t able to connect with his shots due to Monroe’s excellent defense, but he was definitely able to land to the body.
Sanchez is likely going to have Golovkin targeting the body of Monroe because that’s the one area that will be there for Golovkin the entire fight. Even if Monroe runs for 12 rounds, he’s going to be vulnerable to getting hit in the body by Golovkin. If Monroe can take those shots and immediately counter Golovkin every time, he might be able to pull off a shocking upset. It’s not likely but it’s possible.
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