Abel Sanchez Expects Jacobs to Come After Golovkin in 1st Round

By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Abel Sanchez expects an aggressive Daniel Jacobs to test Gennady Golovkin early Saturday night.

Jacobs is known as a fast starter and immediately attacking Peter Quillin obviously paid off for him. The WBA world middleweight champion hurt Quillin with a right hand just 47 seconds into their December 2015 fight at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, and needed just 85 seconds overall to stop Quillin and secure the most noteworthy win of his nine-year pro career.

Quillin clearly was a less dangerous, proven opponent than Golovkin, but Sanchez, Golovkin’s trainer, thinks Jacobs will try to earn Golovkin’s respect right away once the opening bell rings for their scheduled 12-rounder at Madison Square Garden. Sanchez went as far as to predict “a crazy” first round for Golovkin and Jacobs in their HBO Pay-Per-View main event.

“I think that Danny will be aggressive and that’s what we are planning on,” Sanchez said. “If he’s not, then that’s OK. But I think that Danny will come out and try to draw a line and say, ‘You’re not gonna cross this.’ I think that he’s got very smart people around him. With the addition of [trainer] Virgil [Hunter], I think that they understand that they’re gonna have to get Gennady’s respect.

“But I think that that’s gonna make just for a great fight. I don’t think that he will continue that. I think he will test the waters and then use his skills, because he’s got very good skills. He’s got great legs, very good distance. The fact that he knocked Peter Quillin out shows that he’s got great power. So maybe the first round is a crazy round, and I think 2, 3, 4, 5 are more tactical. And then the fight starts in the middle of the fight, in the middle of the 12 rounds. But I expect him to come out and try to see what Gennady’s got.”

Jacobs used Hunter’s gym in Oakland, California, for his recently completed training camp, but the veteran trainer won’t work his corner alongside Jacobs’ head trainer, Andre Rozier. Hunter and Rozier are close friends, however, and they discussed strategy for the biggest fight of Jacobs’ career.

Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) and Brooklyn’s Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) will fight for Golovkin’s IBF, WBA and WBC middleweight championships in the main event of HBO’s pay-per-view telecast ($64.95 in HD; 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT).

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.