By Keith Idec

Danny Jacobs was brutally honest Wednesday about his readiness to challenge Gennady Golovkin.

While other middleweight title-holders and contenders claim they’re prepared to upset boxing’s middleweight knockout artist, Jacobs has taken a more realistic approach to battling Golovkin. Jacobs, a Brooklyn native who overcame cancer to rejuvenate his career last year, believes a fight against Golovkin “would be huge.” Nevertheless, if Jacobs (27-1, 24 KOs) can defeat Australia’s Jarred Fletcher (18-1, 10 KOs) for the WBA’s “regular” middleweight title Aug. 9 at Barclays Center, he’d prefer to continue building his name and resume before boxing Golovkin (30-0, 27 KOs), the WBA’s “super” champion at 160 pounds.

“I think it would be huge,” Jacobs said of a potential Golovkin fight on a conference call to promote the Showtime Championship Boxing tripleheader that includes his title fight. “But for me, how I look at it is … it’s an opportunity I would love to have to fight him. But I also think that he’s already a superstar. I want to have an opportunity to be a superstar myself. So I think [after winning Aug. 9], if I can get a couple fights, maybe Peter Quillin or someone like that, and then go up to Golovkin, that’s something I would look forward to doing.

“But initially, right after the win, I’m not really in control of who I fight. But if I had it my way, I would probably get me a couple of fights, just to solidify that spot and to secure my name and be considered a superstar of the division – and I think better the division as well, before we can go ahead and make that fight, to where we both can get obviously what we deserve for that particular fight.”

The 27-year-old Jacobs has, however, been tracking Golovkin’s progress since K2 Promotions and HBO began building the native of Kazakhstan into an attraction in the United States two years ago. Like virtually everyone else, Jacobs was impressed with how easily Golovkin, 32, dismantled Australia’s Daniel Geale (30-3, 16 KOs) on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. Golovkin floored a game Geale twice – once in the second round and once in the third – on his way to a third-round knockout, his 17th straight.

“I think his performance was great,” Jacobs said. “I think what everyone else thinks. I think the hype is real. I also think he’s doing what he’s supposed to do. Whether or not I believe in the hype, that’s a different story. I see flaws in his game, but his power is tremendous. Mike Tyson used to say you could have all the game plans in the world. Until you get hit – that changes your whole perspective.

"You definitely have to be aware of his power, but I do see a whole lot of flaws in his game, as far as his defense and his inability to move his feet, him being flat-footed. So if there is a possibility that we do fight, I look forward to exploiting those things.”

Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.