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Trainer Johnathon Banks: Wladimir Klitschko won’t come back to boxing

The trainer, now working with GGG, says Wladimir Klitschko is just playing with the public’s emotions.

Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

A week ago, former world heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko hinted again at a boxing comeback. The 43-year-old fighter hasn’t been in the ring since his April 2017 TKO loss to Anthony Joshua, but on the two-year anniversary of that fight he tweeted with some language that left the door open.

But trainer Johnathon Banks, who just signed on as Gennadiy Golovkin’s new lead man in the corner, doesn’t think we’ll actually see Klitschko (64-5, 53 KO) make a return.

“I can tell you this, Wladimir Klitschko — he didn’t contemplate retirement, he made a decision and he retired,” Banks told iFL. “He don’t contemplate things. Either he’s gonna do it or he’s not. And as far as coming back, he’s not, from my conversation with him personally.”

Asked about the hints Klitschko pretty routinely drops in public comments, Banks thinks it’s just Wladimir messing around, basically.

“I honestly think he’s playing on the emotions of the public. I honestly believe that. But I don’t see him coming back. Can he? Yes, 100 percent. But will he? From my belief, and our conversation, no.”

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