Is Danny Jacobs a better fighter than David Lemieux? Matthew Macklin? Kassim Ouma? Daniel Geale? Trainer Abel Sanchez, who of course works with middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, says the man who will next share a ring with GGG is indeed better than all previous opposition the 36-0 star has faced.
Speaking with ESPN.com, Sanchez said that while he feels Triple-G defeats Jacobs, “decisively and easily,” he hopes the critics give his fighter plenty of respect for beating Jacobs on March 18.
“I think – I hope – in the aftermath of the fight, the guys that are bad-mouthing Golovkin for not fighting nobody go back and read the articles [that will come out] the next couple of months about what a tough opponent this is going to be for Gennady, because after he beats him and beats him decisively and easily, I hope he gets the recognition he so richly deserves.”
Plenty of people feel Jacobs – beaten only by Dmitry Pirog – has the tools needed to give Golovkin his toughest test to date, and while Sanchez disagrees he does say “The Miracle Man” is hands down the best fighter Golovkin has yet encountered.
“I think he’s the most gifted, the best athlete, the best puncher, a sharp puncher, that can crack,” Sanchez said of Jacobs, 32-1(29). “He can box. He had a mishap with Pirog (Jacobs being KO’d in the fifth round back in 2010) but he is absolutely the best fighter, period, that we have fought.”
Jacobs, who earned his nickname due to his brave and winning battle with cancer, certainly looked great in his last but one fight, when he shocked Peter Quillin to a stunning 1st-round defeat. Jacobs has fast hands and he has power like Sanchez says he has. The big question is what will happen when Jacobs has to take Golovkin’s withering power? Jacobs has been down more than once – Sergio Mora decked him in a wild first round of their first fight – and some people feel he will not be able to withstand too many of Golovkin’s power punches.
It could be a short and sweet battle with plenty of sizzling action in March. GGG has to be the pick to win but Jacobs might just cause a sensation in there. Let’s hope we get a good fight, going out on pay-per-view as this one is next year.