THE trainers of Canelo Alvarez do not share the general view that he deserved to lose his middleweight title fight with Gennady Golovkin last year. That clash was controversially ruled a draw but Canelo’s trainers don’t believe their man needs to make radical changes going into his May 5 rematch with the WBC, WBA and IBF champion.

Eddy Reynoso, Canelo’s head trainer, said, “We don’t have to change anything. We’re going to prepare very well as we always do. We have a smart, defensive fighter, so we must throw more punches and be more aggressive. We’re going to make some small changes so that the training camp isn’t so monotonous, but we’re confident in our preparation and our fighter.”

Chepo Reynoso, Canelo’s manager and trainer, added, “I’m happy the way Canelo fought in the first fight against Golovkin. But I’ll be even happier in the second fight because he’ll be able to fight differently. Golovkin will come forward and do the same thing, but Canelo has more things to show. He’ll also be better accommodated to 160 pounds since the last fight was his first at 160. This time we’ll look for the knockout.”

Gennady Golovkin

Golovkin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez condemned Alvarez’s tactics in the first fight. “I hope Canelo was able to see a transmission specialist for the rematch because in the first fight he was stuck in reverse. All I know is that after the first fight the fans were not booing Gennady Golovkin. The rematch took long to make because Canelo takes long to heal and had long memories of the first fight,” he said.