Australian boxer Bilal Akkawy joins Canelo Alvarez’s training camp ahead of Gennady Golovkin fight
BOXING great Canelo Alvarez has hand picked an Australian heavy-hitter as a sparring partner to help him prepare for his Las Vegas super fight against unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (GGG) in May.
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NEXT stop, USA: Australia’s hottest boxing prospect is well and truly on the rise.
Hard-hitter Bilal Akkawy has been invited to join the camp of boxing great Canelo Alvarez as his sparring partner in the lead up to his super fight against unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (GGG) in Las Vegas.
Akkawy caught the attention of Alvarez’s team after his impressive unanimous decision win against former WBA super-middleweight world champion Giovanni De Carolis in Sydney last month.
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The highly anticipated rematch between Alvarez and GGG on May 5 is being billed as one the biggest fights in years and the Mexican is leaving no stone unturned in his preparation for the bout.
Akkawy has earned a reputation as the heaviest hitter pound-for-pound in Australia and, according to his manager Ahmed Akkawy, the power he possesses is exactly what Alvarez is looking for in a sparring partner.
“Bilal is gaining recognition of his boxing skills and ability by those respected within the industry and this type of attention is both well earned and deserved,” Ahmed Akkawy said.
“To be among the likes of Canelo; one of the greatest boxers of the current boxing era is exciting and a privilege.”
Alvarez, a former world champion across two different weight classes, is managed by Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Akkawy’s team is hoping to build on that relationship.
“We are not sure whether or not this will result in other opportunities with Golden Boy Promotions but we are confident that both parties will benefit substantially from this sparring camp and Bilal will gain invaluable experience from being around boxing royalty,” Ahmed Akkawy said.
The Peakhurst local left Sydney for San Diego on Monday and will spend almost six weeks training with Alvarez.
The super-middleweight’s win against De Carolis in February has seen him climb to 12th in the WBA rankings and 14th in the IBF standings.