Gennady Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez has confirmed that Britain’s “St.” George Groves is training alongside the Kazakh knockout artist up at his Summit Gym in Big Bear, California, in preparation for his upcoming WBC 168 lb title tilt against Vegas based Swede Badou Jack.
Sanchez, in the UK to corner Carson Jones in his 154 lb rematch with Brian Rose on Saturday night, said to Sky Sports that the scheduling of Golovkin’s own middleweight unification fight with David Lemieux will mean that Groves will be unlikely to actually spar with Golovkin, however.
“I only like Golovkin in camp for eight to nine weeks,” Sanchez said.
“Our fight is on October 17 so he won’t be back until August 17. By that time, George will be finishing up and Golovkin is just starting
“Once I get back, there’s several guys in my gym (other than GGG) that George will be sparring with.
“George likes (training in Big Bear), and (his trainer) Paddy Fitzpatrick likes it too. The altitude helps him but he’s getting away from distraction to an area where he can concentrate on what he’s doing, and prepare the way it’s supposed to be for a big fight.”
There is still some uncertainty as to the actual date for Grove’s challenge to Jack, although the consensus opinion is it will feature on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s September 12th fight with Andre Berto given that Jack is a member of “The Money Team” and looked after by Mayweather promotions.
Either way, when they do fight, Sanchez expects the Brit to draw on his big-fight experience and be too much for the Swede, who upset Anthony Dirrell back in April to win his title.
“Physically, he’s such a strong, rugged guy that Badou won’t be able to handle him. Just by fighting Carl Froch and having been in that situation makes a big difference mentally.
“He’ll stop Badou Jack,” Sanchez said. “I don’t think Jack understands the level that George is at.”
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