Johnathon Banks: Goal is to return Gennady Golovkin to the throne

There’s been a lot of fallout and speculation surrounding the break up between Gennady Golovkin and longtime trainer Abel Sanchez. And while that relationship didn’t end on the best of terms, Golovkin and his new trainer Johnathan Banks are hoping to get things back on track for the Kazakh puncher.

Golovkin mentions to ESPN that Banks is helping him to improve as a boxer while also saying that he believes in Banks’ training methods and that he wasn’t even considering anyone else for the job as a replacement for Sanchez. For his part, Banks says he still sees the hunger and passion in Golovkin, going on to mention that he’s been a fan of Golovkin since his amateur days.

“I have always been a fan of Triple G since I began watching him as an amateur. I remember him at the [2004] Olympics and thought he was a tremendous talent,” Banks said. “When I got the call, of course I was excited to be working with him.

“We have one goal, and that is to officially return Gennady to the world championship throne that he deserves. The two fights Gennady had with Canelo reminded me of the two battles between Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns. Those fights had the same caliber of high-level competition. I can’t wait for Gennady to get another shot at him.”

Banks will now attempt to impart some of the late Emanuel Steward’s teaching into Golovkin’s game, and if there’s any noticeable difference to Golovkin’s style we should get our first glimpse of it when Golovkin takes on Steve Rolls on June 8.