Murray gave us canvas to practice: Abel Sanchez

Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez told On the Ropes Boxing Radio about the tactics they chose for the fight against Martin Murray, Tengrinews reports citing Vesti.kz.

The Golovkin-Murray fight took place on February 21 in Monte Carlo, Monaco and lasted 11 rounds. Kazakhstan's Golovkin TKOed his British opponent in the 11th round after a series of knockdowns.

The bout against Murray was the longest in Golovkin’s professional career. While some boxing specialists praised Murray for standing up against Golovkin for long 11 rounds, others were saying that the Kazakhstani boxer was playing with his opponent in the ring. Trainer Sanchez explained that there were reasons for having a much longer fight than anticipated.

“The reason that I wanted the rounds was so we could practice all the things we do in the gym. Some of the things that he was doing, some of the shots that he was throwing, there’s things that we’re practicing in the gym in the future for other guys. I want a versatile fighter that can do a lot of different things. The body shot is an easy shot to throw, he can throw that in the gym as well as anybody but if you don’t practice the rest of the stuff in actual combat situations, we’re never gonna learn it,” Sanchez told Jenna J of On the Ropes Boxing Radio.

Sanchez admitted that Murray was Golovkin’s “most durable” opponent. “I think the hardest puncher was Curtis Stevens, but he was the most durable. Murray took a lot of shots and he withstood it, but I thought the corner could have stopped it three or four rounds before that eleventh round stoppage because he was taking a lot of punishment,” Sanchez added.

As for critics, the trainer of the WBA Super, IBO and WBC Interim middleweight champion admitted that criticism is always unavoidable. “I wasn’t so much worried about the critics because there’s gonna be critics whether you win, lose or draw or look great or bad. I was more concerned with practicing some of the things that are done in the gym to improve your skills and to be able to deal with the elite fighters.”

According to Abel Sanchez, Gennady Golovkin is set on obtaining the full WBC middleweight title held by Miguel Cotto. Golovkin wants to fight Cotto sometime in June this year. But the Puerto Rican has other plans for his upcoming fight despite the fact that Mauricio Sulaiman of the WBC stated that Cotto had to face Golovkin of Kazakhstan, the main contender for the WBC title this year.

“He (Golovkin) has to wait like anybody else. He can do whatever he wants. My career does not depend on Gennady Golovkin. Everything I do will be the best for me. That is what I will do. If that is fighting Gennady Golovkin, I will do it. If not, he can take the middleweight title. He can take it,” Cotto told ESPN.com.

By Gyuzel Kamalova