Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
On Saturday, March 18, 2017, Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) successfully defended his Middleweight titles with a close unanimous decision victory against Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The 12-round fight headlined a four-fight HBO PPV telecast in the U.S.
The fight was a veritable war of nerves as both fighters fought with the tentative awareness of each other’s knockout capabilities. In fact, in the opening two rounds, both fighters spent most of the fight exchanging feints and jabs, though Jacobs’ movement appeared to produce some trouble for Golovkin.
By Round 3, Golovkin, 34, of Kazakhstan began controlling the fight with the jab and slightly increased the pressure, though Jacobs short a short flurry, most of which slightly landed, to end the round.
By this point, Jacobs, 30, of Brooklyn, New York, seemed to demonstrate that his size advantage and his boxing skills would hold up against Golovkin, which they eventually did. However, after switching to southpaw, Jacobs ate two right hands that dropped him in Round 4.
The knockdown seemed to because by both the two punches and the fact that Jacobs was off balance. Check out the knockdown below for yourself.
Daniel Jacobs lands a good shot on GGG in Round 3. But Jacobs is down in Round 4. #Boxing #GGGJacobs pic.twitter.com/mB3J6Gajnq
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) March 19, 2017
Golovkin continued to gain momentum in Round 5 by landing right hands and by controlling the round with the jab, but in Round 6, Jacobs returned fire with more confident combinations. The rest of the fight continued in this patter, with Jacobs winning one or two and Golovkin winning the other.
Jacobs did well when he fought at a distance and used his jab, while Golovkin did better when he used his jab to set up right hands. Jacobs probably could have jabbed more to increase his control to the ring, while Golovkin could have aimed to the body a bit more to prevent Jacobs from winning.
Round 12 was arguably a decisive round as Golovkin edged Jacobs, though that meant that his then 23-knockout streak had come to an end.
The judges scored the fight 115-112, 115-112 and 114-113 for Golovkin. RBRBoxing scored the fight 115-112 for Golovkin as well.
In his post-fight interview with HBO’s Max Kellerman, Golovkin expressed his desire to face Canelo Alvarez or to face Daniel Jacobs in a rematch.
In his interview with Kellerman, Jacobs said that he felt he won the fight and suggested that the powers that be prevented him from winning in order to set up a potential Golovkin-Canelo fight.
At 34-years-old against the second best Middleweight in the world, Golovkin looked vulnerable and beatable, but that’s usually what happens when the two best in a division fight.
Nevertheless, it may have become clear that Jacobs’ weight advantage, which some speculate to be over 180 pounds as he entered the ring, played a factor in Golovkin’s performance, not to mention that Jacobs is tough, crafty, and powerful.
As for Jacobs, he culminated a 12-fight win streak that was the cherry on top of a more important victory: his defeat against cancer several years ago. Though perhaps a loss to the best in the division is of little consolation, Jacobs exceeded expectations as many fans felt that Golovkin would stop Jacobs.
What did you think of the fight? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also, who do you think wins Canelo-Golovkin?
