Abel sanchez trainer biography
GGG splits with his longtime trainer Sanchez
Dan RafaelApr 25, 2019, 08:26 AM
Close- 2013 BWAA Nat Fleischer Award winner for excellence in boxing journalism
- ESPN.com boxing writer since 2005
- Five years at USA Today
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The changes keep coming for former unified middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin.
On Wednesday, Golovkin announced perhaps the biggest change of all -- that he has parted ways with longtime trainer Abel Sanchez, who was an integral part of his success since they got together for Golovkin's first world title bout in 2010.
"I would like to announce that I have made a major decision for myself and for my career," Golovkin said in a statement. "I want to build on what I have already achieved and continue to better myself. Therefore, I will not be training with Abel Sanchez. This was not an easy decision for me and it is not a reflection on Abel's professional abilities. He is a great trainer, a loyal trainer, and a Hall of Fame trainer.
"I will be announcing my new trainer at a later date. But today, I want to thank Abel for the lessons he taught me in boxing."
Sanchez did not take the firing well.
"Greedy and ungrateful," Sanchez told ESPN. "He just signed a $100 million contract [with DAZN] and all of a sudden you have to make drastic steps because you don't have enough money? I feel for the morals and scruples of somebody like that. It's all over money.
"I wouldn't take what they were trying to insult me with. It's very disappointing because I never would've guessed that this young man would do that. I thought this young man had more scruples, more morals, a better upbringing. I never thought it would corrupt him like that. I was blindsided, really."
For years, Golovkin and Sanchez were inseparable and Golovkin was a regular at Sanchez's Summit Gym in Big Bear Lake, California, sometimes even going there to work out and help with Sanchez's other boxers even when he was not specifically training for a fight.
The Summit Gym in Big Bear, a home away from home for Gennady Golovkin, Abel Sanchez
Brett OkamotoSep 12, 2018, 11:00 PM
Close- MMA columnist for ESPN.com
- Analyst for "MMA Live"
- Covered MMA for Las Vegas Sun
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. -- Boxing's unbeaten combination of Gennady Golovkin, Abel Sanchez and this quiet town in the San Bernardino Mountains has become one of the sport's greatest success stories. And the story of how the combination even came to be is pretty great itself.
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The entirety of Golovkin's middleweight title reign, which is now tied with Bernard Hopkins' mark of 20 consecutive defenses, has been orchestrated here -- inside a three-story home Sanchez built himself in 2001 (and nearly died of a heart attack while constructing).
The Summit Gym, as it's now known, has somewhat of a complicated history. And had one detail gone differently in this story, Golovkin might have never ended up here.
Originally, Sanchez designed the building in the late 1990s, with former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis and Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward in mind. He even modified certain details inside to cater to Lewis's 6-foot-5 frame.
See, beginning in 1996, Sanchez started buying up empty lots in Big Bear Lake. In addition to training fighters there, he'd found the price of property within the town to be surprisingly cheap. He owned a construction company, and would turn the empty lots into profitable homes -- just a quarter-mile from the town's ski slopes.
The Summit, however, wasn't meant to be at the time Sanchez built it. Lewis and Steward never used it, and when Sanchez suffered a heart attack while laying the concrete, he decided to get out of boxing altogether. It was too busy of a schedule, and his stable of fighters had hit a rough patch anyway. He would focus exclusively on construction.
After it was completed, the house stayed in Sanchez's possession -- and sat empty for six years.
Sanchez encouraged his
Abel Sanchez
Mexican-American boxing trainer
For novel, see Abel Sánchez: The History of a Passion.
For the Peruvian Olympic diver, see Abel Sánchez.
Abel Sanchez | |
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Sanchez (center) in 2015 |
Abel Sanchez is a Mexican-American boxing trainer. He is best known as the former coach of Gennady Golovkin, and has trained other boxers such as Lupe Aquino, Terry Norris, Murat Gassiev, and Arsen Goulamirian.
Early life
Sanchez was born in Tijuana, Mexico in 1955 and immigrated to San Marin, California with his family at the age of six.
Boxing trainer
The first three boxers he trained, Lupe Aquino, Terry Norris, and Orlin Norris, all became world champions. He went on to train other world champions during the 1990s, including Miguel Ángel González, Paul Vaden, Frans Botha, and Nana Konadu.
Summit Gym and later career
In 2000, he built a house in Big Bear, California to conduct fighters' training camps. The house, which is nicknamed The Summit, was initially intended for Sanchez's friend and famed trainer Emanuel Steward to use to conduct training camps and was built at altitude in order to help athletes improve their aerobic conditioning. However, the training center remained largely unused while Sanchez recovered from a heart attack in 2001. This changed when Oscar De La Hoya rented it to prepare for his 2008 bout with Manny Pacquiao.
Shortly afterwards, Sanchez met with Gennady Golovkin and returned to training after being impressed with Golovkin's talent. Sanchez and Golovkin split after nine years due to a money row following Golovkin's $100m deal with DAZN.
Since then, he's worked with other active boxers like Sullivan Barrera, Murat Gassiev, Denis Shafikov, Michel Soro, Alfredo Angulo, Joe Joyce and Arsen Goulamirian.
Recognition
In 2015, Sanchez won the Futch-Condon, an award given by the Boxing Writ
Abel Sanchez Personality Type
Abel Sanchez is an INFP and Enneagram Type 8w9.
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"Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts."
Abel Sanchez
Abel Sanchez is a renowned boxing trainer from the United States who has trained some of the biggest names in the sport. Born on February 8, 1959, in West Covina, California, Sanchez has made a lasting impact on the world of professional boxing with his exceptional coaching skills and dedication to his athletes. Throughout his successful career, Sanchez has established himself as a prominent figure in the boxing community and has played a crucial role in the development and success of numerous boxers.
Sanchez first gained recognition in the late 1990s for his work with former welterweight champion Terry Norris. Under Sanchez's tutelage, Norris reached new heights in his career, capturing multiple world titles and establishing himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of his era. This success catapulted Sanchez into the spotlight, earning him a reputation as one of the top trainers in the sport.
However, Sanchez's most notable partnership came in 2009 when he started working with middleweight sensation Gennady Golovkin, also known as "GGG". The collaboration between Sanchez and Golovkin proved to be immensely successful, with the Kazakhstani boxer achieving an unprecedented 23 consecutive knockout victories. Sanchez's coaching strategies and ability to bring out the best in Golovkin's skills played a pivotal role in his rise to stardom.
Beyond Golovkin, Sanchez has also trained other prominent boxers, including former junior middleweight champion Terry Norris, WBA lightweight champion Ray Beltran, a