By Keith Idec
NEW YORK – Daniel Jacobs laughed Thursday when he was informed that Gennady Golovkin has opened as an 8-1 favorite over him.
“That’s pretty bad, right?,” Jacobs said during an interview session with reporters at the Brooklyn Nets’ training facility. “So the more, the merrier.”
The 29-year-old Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) isn’t offended that handicappers have installed him as such a huge underdog entering his middleweight title fight against the 34-year-old Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) on March 18 at Madison Square Garden (HBO Pay-Per-View).
“Nah,” Jacobs said. “Because I was the underdog with Peter Quillin. And I really didn’t feel like I was supposed to be the underdog. And once that happened, I was like, ‘You never know what you’re gonna get with these guys.’
“But a guy like Triple-G, who’s been knocking out all these guys, it’s expected. I was expecting to be, obviously, the underdog. I didn’t know how far in debt I was gonna be the underdog. But that doesn’t matter to me, because the people choosing for him to be the favorite aren’t in there fighting for him. So I’m the one who gets to dictate that, right? So it’s cool.”
Brooklyn’s Jacobs knocked out Quillin (32-1-1, 23 KOs), a friendly rival and former WBO middleweight title-holder, just 1:25 into the first round of their middleweight title fight a year ago at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The WBA world middleweight champion plans to use Golovkin’s supposed superiority as added motivation during training camp, which will begin soon either in Florida or California.
“It’s cool,” Jacobs said. “It’s just a little motivation. Got my headphones on. ‘Oh yeah, they think I’m 8-1? OK.’ Motivation. Motivation. Everything is just motivation. That’s what it is. This fight. His knockouts. His last couple of fights, he’s been looking spectacular. So have I, but even still, that’s my motivation.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
