In an outcome that few expects, Saturday night proved to a close shave for IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin as he was forced to go the full twelve round distance to earn a tight unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs). Photo by Tom Hogan/Hogaphotos.
Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) had stopped his last 23 opponents inside the distance and had never gone twelve rounds, as over 19,000 at Madison Square Garden in New York were on their feet at various points in the fight.
Judges Don Trella and Steve Weisfeld both scored the fight 115-112 and Max DeLuca had it 114-113 for Golovkin.
Now the main target is Mexican superstar Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, who headlines his own pay-per-view on May 6th at the T-Mobile Arena - with a catch-weight of 164.5-pounds in place.
"We have to see what happens with Canelo in May, but that would be the priority," said Golovkin's promoter Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions. "Danny fought a terrific fight. They both did."
The Alvarez matchup, should the Mexican beat countryman Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in May, is where the big bucks are. That's been true, however, for several years, and putting together such a fight has been elusive.
Tom Loeffler, GGG's promoter, repeated many times after the Jacobs fight that he believes Golovkin-Alvarez can happen before the end of 2017. Several of his listeners responded, basically, with a ''We've heard that before'' mantra.
''I believe both sides want this fight and we are getting closer to it,'' Loeffler said.
His boxer was asked in the ring Saturday night after the exhausting bout with Jacobs to discuss meeting Alvarez, the super welterweight champion whose only defeat in 43 fights was to Floyd Mayweather in 2013.
''Of course I am ready to fight Canelo. Of course I want that fight,'' Golovkin said. ''I am like an animal for that fight.''
