Gennadiy Golovkin Hires Johnathan Banks As His New Trainer
Gennadiy Golovkin has selected a new trainer ahead of his DAZN debut.
The former middleweight champion has announced that Johnathan Banks will be training Golovkin moving forward. The two will work together as Golovkin is preparing for his next fight against Steve Rolls on June 8.
The move comes less than two weeks after it was announced that Golovkin will no longer be working alongside long-time trainer Abel Sanchez. Banks, a disciple of the late Emanuel Steward, has trained a number of reputable fighters, most notably former unified heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko and current undisputed women’s welterweight champion Cecilia Braekhus.
Banks also had a lengthy career as a boxer, competing from 2004 to 2014 as both a cruiserweight and heavyweight. Banks once held the IBO cruiserweight title and previously challenged for the IBF world title, facing the likes of Tomasz Adamek and Antonio Tarver throughout his career.
Golovkin and Sanchez have worked together for the better part of the 2010s, winning multiple middleweight world title fights together. The last two years of Golovkin’s career have been one of professional highs and lows. After Golovkin defeated Daniel Jacobs in March 2017, he would go on to fight Canelo Alvarez to a draw later that year. Golovkin bounced back from that draw to knock out Vanes Martirosyan on May 5, 2018, but would go on to lose a majority decision to Alvarez in their rematch last September.
Golovkin’s fight with Rolls will be the first of a six-fight, three-year Golovkin signed with DAZN. The fight will take place at Madison Square Garden, Golovkin’s first at the venue since defeating Jacobs on an HBO pay-per-view bout.
