Trainer Johnathon Banks says a highly motivated Gennady Golovkin will take the battle to Saul "Canelo" Alvarez from the first bell and must fight every round “like it is his last” if he is to come out on top in this weekend’s much-anticipated trilogy bout.
Golvokin, the current WBA and IBF middleweight champion, goes up against familiar foe Alvarez for the third time early this Sunday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, as he seeks to avenge his 2018 loss.
The points defeat four years ago, coming after a controversial split draw the previous year, represents Golovkin’s sole blemish in 44 professional fights.
The two contentious calls – many considered Golovkin won the first bout – have framed the build-up to this weekend’s clash, with Golovkin viewing it as an opportunity to write the wrongs of the rematch.
Alvarez, though, goes into the fight as the heavy favourite. Since the second Golovkin bout, the Mexican has gone on to become boxing’s pound-for-pound No 1 and its most bankable asset, while in the past year alone, he has held all four super-middleweight belts.
The defeat in May to WBA light-heavyweight Dmitry Bivol marked Alvarez's first loss in nine years – and second overall as a pro from 61 fights.
Golovkin, meanwhile, has won all four fights since 2018, including three under Banks’ tutelage. The pair began working together in May 2019.
Speaking to The National, Banks said Golovkin was raring to go for the trilogy, before breaking down what will be required to get what he believes a deserved victory on Sunday.
“It has to be a dominating performance,” Banks said. “He can’t afford to take any rounds off. Every round he’s got to be on point. That’s the goal.
“That’s what I’m telling him and that’s what I believe needs to happen. No seconds off, no minutes off. He’s got to start the round strong, finish it strong.
“He’ll have to go to work. He’ll have to let his hands go and be smart about the whole thing. Just got to take one round at a time. If you fight like every round is your last round, we’ll be in good position."
Banks added: “I’d be foolish to think all you have to do is go in there and knock him out. Who has knocked Canelo out? Nobody. For me to think that that would be insane.
“I think there’s ways he can hurt him, and they could be obvious. There are a couple things we’re working on, but for the most part he’s just got to outwork him every round. Let it be obvious what’s going on in there.”
In a closely fought encounter in 2017, one judge scored it wildly in Alvarez’s favour, giving him 10 of the 12 rounds. Another deemed the contest a draw, even if he did award the 7th – Golovkin’s standout round – to Alvarez.
However, while Banks said he did not want to leave the trilogy open to the judges’ call, he denied the game-plan had been devised with the previous controversy in mind.
“It's not because of the judges,” Banks said. “It’s because of the type of person [Golovkin's] in there with. But I think that’s just the smarter strategy: if we want to hurt this guy, we will get busy to keep him busy and make him desperate to start picking it up. That’s the whole point - making him uncomfortable.
“He just had this defeat [to Bivol]. So, by the time the sixth round comes, if his people tell him, ‘This fight is close, you’ve got to pick it up’, then he’s going to come in looking for a knockout – and that could get him in trouble.”
For the trilogy, Golovkin has moved to super-middleweight to compete for the first time at 168 lbs. The original two match-ups with Alvarez took place at 160 lbs.
Banks, who took up training in 2012 under the tutelage of legendary coach Emmanuel Steward, said the fact Alvarez has climbed through the divisions – he fought Bivol at light-heavyweight – should work in Golovkin’s favour, since the continuously increasing baulk has encouraged him to fight more on the front foot.
Still, Banks says Alvarez will be wary of Golovkin's resilience following their 2018 bout.
“When both fighters left the ring that night after the 12th round, I think both were different,” he said. “They both went through two tough battles. And it definitely changed them.
“Because Canelo looked at [Golovkin] and said, ‘Listen, you know what, I’m going to stay away from this guy. This guy is crazy. Everything I did he came right back’.
“No one ever did that to him before. He looked at him like, ‘I don’t know what’s wrong with him’.
Alvarez, 32, has been particularly vocal in the lead-up, saying the rivalry is personal, that he is coming to “destroy” Golovkin. The Kazakhstan fighter turned 40 in April; Alvarez says he will send him into retirement this weekend.
As to what he makes of the Alvarez trash talk, Banks said: “He also said he can leap over a building with a single bounce. The man says what he feeling like saying.
“The man says it’s personal. The man says he’s coming to destroy him. The man says he will be finished after this fight, the man says this is ‘G’s’ last fight.
“Then he said he walked on water, then he walked through walls. And now he says he’s swam across the ocean 10 times but came back and he’s ready to fight. The man says a lot of things. What’s to make of it? I really don’t know.
“It’s part of the sport; guy’s say whatever they feel like saying, either to get themselves motivated, or try to get into the head of somebody that’s close to the fighter, or to stir up stuff through the media so the media have something to talk about.
“As a veteran fighter in the sport, ‘G’ should brush stuff like that off. It’s very hard to find a veteran in the sport that, when their opponents start talking and talking and talking, it affects them.
“Because that veteran knows the fight still has to happen, the bell still has to ring. So, whatever you say, doesn’t mean anything. As long as you show up to fight, that’s all that really matters.”
The biog
Full name: Aisha Abdulqader Saeed
Age: 34
Emirate: Dubai
Favourite quote: "No one has ever become poor by giving"
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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SPEC SHEET
Display: 6.8" edge quad-HD dynamic Amoled 2X, Infinity-O, 3088 x 1440, 500ppi, HDR10 , 120Hz
Processor: 4nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/Exynos 2200, 8-core
Memory: 8/12GB RAM
Storage: 128/256/512GB/1TB
Platform: Android 12
Main camera: quad 12MP ultra-wide f/2.2, 108MP wide f/1.8, 10MP telephoto f/4.9, 10MP telephoto 2.4; Space Zoom up to 100x, auto HDR, expert RAW
Video: 8K@24fps, 4K@60fps, full-HD@60fps, HD@30fps, super slo-mo@960fps
Front camera: 40MP f/2.2
Battery: 5000mAh, fast wireless charging 2.0 Wireless PowerShare
Connectivity: 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC
I/O: USB-C
SIM: single nano, or nano and SIM, nano and nano, eSIM/nano and nano
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Price: Dh4,699 for 128GB, Dh5,099 for 256GB, Dh5,499 for 512GB; 1TB unavailable in the UAE
The National in Davos
We are bringing you the inside story from the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, a gathering of hundreds of world leaders, top executives and billionaires.
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Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Company name: Play:Date
Launched: March 2017 on UAE Mother’s Day
Founder: Shamim Kassibawi
Based: Dubai with operations in the UAE and US
Sector: Tech
Size: 20 employees
Stage of funding: Seed
Investors: Three founders (two silent co-founders) and one venture capital fund
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The specs: Audi e-tron
Price, base: From Dh325,000 (estimate)
Engine: Twin electric motors and 95kWh battery pack
Transmission: Single-speed auto
Power: 408hp
Torque: 664Nm
Range: 400 kilometres
How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
