Olympic Silver Medal winner Joe Joyce has decided to train with Abel Sanchez in Big Bear, California, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com.
“I heard a lot of good things about Abel’s training methods and I’m a bit of a fan of Golovkin,” Joyce said at ringside Saturday night during the Mikey Garcia-Robert Easter Jr. card at Staples Center. “I like how Golovkin throws his shots and I like Abel’s work with him, and I thought we’d be a good match. I had my manager contact with him and we managed to get the ball rolling.”
“I think this shows the commitment Joe has,” promoter Richard Schaefer said of Joyce’s decision to leave home to train in the U.S. “I think Abel is a fantastic coach and given Joe’s attributes, I think he’s the perfect coach for Joe.”
“It shows you that all three of these guys are really committed to go to the top,” Schaefer said. “They are not afraid to move away from family and friends and from comfortable surroundings.”
“I asked him to come for a couple of weeks to see if we can get along because there’s no reason to be married if we don’t, but we worked well together,” Sanchez said. “He liked how I handle things and how I work things and he worked hard for me.”
“When Golovkin is doing the same thing you’re doing with the kind of intensity he trains with, it makes everyone work hard, and Joe is no exception,” said Sanchez, the 2015 Boxing Writers Association of America trainer of the year. “He has a celebrated amateur background, but here he’s just one of the guys. It must be exciting for him not to have the pressure on him. He’s just up here working hard.”
“He gave me a lot more than I expected for such a big man,” Sanchez said. “He’s very athletic. Now it’s a matter of making him into more of a professional because they’re going to move him quickly. When we met some of the things he said were music to my ears. He has a come-forward style and he said he wants to make it a fight and entertain, and that’s my philosophy. I am that kind of coach.
“He’s very smart. He’s not the fastest in the world, so we’re obviously going to work on that. He’s got a pretty good right hand. He’s strong and the jab is deceptive. He’s also in great shape. I have the same feeling [about Joyce] as when [former cruiserweight world titlist Murat] Gassiev came to me. He wasn’t that experienced, but he wanted to learn and he asked questions and he worked hard. [Joyce] has his goal to win a heavyweight title, and I am here to help him achieve that. I believe he can do it.”
