By Steve Kim
In a few weeks, Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) defends his WBA, IBF, WBC, IBO middleweight titles against Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) at the famed Madison Square Garden in New York. The March 18th showdown is being carried by HBO Pay-Per-View.
The consensus is that this is a match-up of the two best 160-pounders in the world. Jacobs has the respect of Golovkin.
"Daniel, seriously, he has good boxing style, good boxing IQ, he has power. I think for me, he's the best amateur from Brooklyn (New York), from East Coast, he's a very good boxer," said Golovkin from the Wild Card West boxing gym in Santa Monica on Tuesday where a media day was for this fight. "Right now it's very serious, very interesting for me, not just for me, [for] us."
While not the biggest middleweight he's ever faced - Golovkin said that distinction belonged to Nobuhiro Ishida - Jacobs is perhaps the biggest threat he's faced thus far.
"Danny, yeah, he has power, he's a boxer. He's a true champion. He's not like fake, a true fighter," Golovkin said.
And despite whatever else might be in his immediate future, whether it's a unification bout with WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders or a mega-fight with Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, nothing is distracting the undefeated Golovkin from the task at hand.
Although there are ongoing talks between Golovkin's handlers and Golden Boy Promotions, who represent Canelo, for a fight in September. But that fight hangs on Golovkin's ability to defeat Jacobs and the outcome of Canelo's scheduled fight with fellow Mexican star Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on May 6.
"My focus right now is Daniel Jacobs because I understand this is a true fight. It's not unification but it's a true fight because this is my best opponent."
Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com