Daniel Jacobs and Gennady Golovkin fight for legacy this Saturday night live on HBO PPV at the Mecca of boxing Madison Square Garden. Most think Jacobs represents Triple G’s stiffest test during an impressive title defense run at middleweight. Roman Gonzalez and Carlos Cuadras return in separate bouts on the undercard and if both successful the plan is to run it back in the summer. There first scrape was highly entertaining and very close hence the need for a rematch.
Honestly speaking it’s totally acceptable to ask if Danny will be yet another good boy. And that’s not said to make fun of ‘The Miracle Man’ it’s a real question that will be answered on Saturday. Jacobs defiantly looks every bit the part of a big and powerful middleweight something Golovkin hasn’t had to deal with. Sure, Martin Murray is a big guy but lacks the power punching. Marco Antonio Rubio, David Lemieux, and Curtis Stevens all had power but were unable to deplore it enough in their fights against GGG.
Hand speed and athleticisms separates Jacobs from the pack of rejected 160-pounders thrashed to the waste side by the man from Kazakhstan. But like those fighters previously mentioned, Danny’s chin has been cracked on a few occasions. The worst coming in 2010 versus Dimitry Pirog when Jacobs was lying on the canvas looking dead to the world enough so the referee called it off. It should be mentioned that Danny did spring up quickly doing his best to show the referee he was fine.
Regardless of what Jacobs or anyone else thinks about that stoppage, bottom line Jacobs made two mental mistakes costing him dearly. His first error was getting caught flush and the second was lying on the mat motionless for far too long giving the referee no choice but to stop it. An unknown lingers from that knockout due to Jacobs overall health giving the fact around a year later the cancer was diagnosed. Danny complains of feeling pain in his legs and other parts of his body reached a fever pitch one day when he found himself unable to walk attempting to get out of bed. Clearly his body wasn’t 100% right it’s just hard to quantify the effects it had in his only loss.
All signs point to Golovkin using a similar strategy that was very effective in the fall of 2015 versus David Lemieux. Gennady’s power jab disrupted Lemieux basically anytime he tried to mount a serious attack. As the fight wore on, Golovkin began to land heavy right hands and hooks to the head and body. One of those left hooks to the body dropped David and it was all downhill after that. Golovkin’s patience and footwork in the Lemieux fight showed he had several layers to his arsenal instead of just being labeled a big dumb puncher.
Golovkin doesn’t necessarily move his head much on defense but his footwork and upper body movement sets him apart from many of the top aggressive boxers in today’s game. His ability to move towards or away from his opponent quickly all while staying within punching range is a nightmare to face. Kell Brook gave Gennady hell to an extent last September until Brook’s corner felt forced to throw in the towel due to an eye injury. Kell’s movement and combination punching proved to be a handful for Golovkin. Of course GGG was on a mission of destruction willing to take few shots from the welterweight to land his own power.
My guess is this matchup will start with both men in the center of the ring neither in attack mode out of the gate. Even though it’s a small sample size Jacobs moved well by circling Peter Quillin instead of rushing in impatiently throwing haymakers. Circling and using a pivot off the jab is how this scribe thinks Daniel Jacobs should operate early on. The worse-case scenario for Danny is being patient doesn’t work. The option of throwing caution to the wind on offense remains intact.
Many fans and media members alike were calling for a full-out brawl between Golovkin and Lemieux. It seemed that Lemieux wasn’t willing to take many risks in the face of adversity in the form of a steady diet of jabs setting up flush power shots for GGG. It’s easier said than done but this scribe doesn’t see kid from Brooklyn content in going the distance if placed in a similar situation as Lemiuex. Nope, if Danny is down on the scorecards at some point he will run thru the fire for better or worse.
Unless Jacobs’s skill is too much for Gennady, expect him to pick up the pace to see Golovkin’s response to being backed up. Both combatants prefer a good drama show rather than a boring snooze fest which tends to get them hit a lot. But the boxer who has shown more tendencies to make mental and technical mistakes is Jacobs. It’s not that Jacobs can’t pull of what would be a sizable upset it’s just more comforting to side with the more disciplined fighter. In this case it’s Golovkin. Danny will give Golovkin his best fight in years but it won’t be enough to stop the streak of defenses at 160.
My Official Prediction is Gennady Golovkin by Late Technical Stoppage.
Here’s the link for my prediction video
Side Note: Don’t forget Friday is full of interesting fight cards across a several channels. Standout Irish Olympian Michael Conlan makes his pro debut on Unimas and Heavyweights clash when Travis Kauffman and Amir Mansour meet on Bounce TV.