By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Daniel Jacobs is looking forward to finding out just how hard Gennady Golovkin punches.
Not too many times, mind you, but enough to satisfy a question he has had during Golovkin’s ascent to stardom in America over the past four years. Jacobs’ ability to take the unbeaten Golovkin’s vaunted power will be one of the foremost factors in how their scheduled 12-round middleweight title fight unfolds March 18 at Madison Square Garden (HBO Pay-Per-View).
“That’s a big curiosity for me, because everyone’s talking about it,” Jacobs told a group of reporters Thursday at the Brooklyn Nets’ training facility. “So obviously it’s in the back of my mind. I know that’s one of the main things we have to look out for is the power. I mean, I’m not inhuman, to where I can say, ‘I can take everything.’ No, this is boxing. You get hit, you get hurt. But you keep them hands up and you move, so that you can minimize the chances of doing so.
“So yeah, I wanna feel that power, but not so much to where it hurts [laughs]. And that’s the plan. That’s the plan, to get in there and you’re gonna get hit in the sport of boxing. But the plan is don’t get hit that much, or don’t allow him to be effective. And win rounds, or win by knockout. But obviously, this is boxing – you’re gonna get hit.”
The 29-year-old Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) has won each of his 12 bouts by knockout – and conquered cancer – since suffering the lone loss of his pro career six years ago. Russia’s Dmitry Pirog (20-0, 15 KOs), then the WBO middleweight champion, stopped Brooklyn’s Jacobs in the fifth round of that July 2010 title fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
That defeat to Pirog has sparked skepticism among some fans and media regarding Jacobs’ ability to withstand Golovkin’s power. Kazakhstan’s Golovkin has won 23 straight bouts by knockout or technical knockout and has knocked out 33 of his 36 professional opponents (92 percent).
“I think it’s hard to say his power is not one of the main concerns,” Jacobs said. “If it’s not [number] one, it’s two. Yeah, his power is a main concern. How could it not be? He has a huge knockout ratio. But in saying that, I know that I’m gonna be the best level of competition that he has faced.
“So all those things that he was able to do on certain other guys, he might not be able to do on me. It might be a little bit more difficult for him. But like I said, we just have to come up with a really great game plan, that I feel my team is gonna come up with. And we’re gonna execute it over the full course of 11, 12 weeks in camp.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
