By Edward Chaykovsky
Abel Sanchez, trainer for IBF, WBC, WBA, IBO middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), has no problem with Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) blowing off the IBF's second day weigh-in.
Two weeks ago at New York's Madison Square Garden, Golovkin won a twelve round unanimous decision over Jacobs.
Unlike Golovkin's last 23 fights, this contest went the distance and he saw the end of the twelfth round for the first time in his career. The scores were close, with the judges handing down tallies of 115-112, 115-112 and 114-113.
Many fans took issue with Jacobs no-showing the IBF's mandatory second day weigh-in, which takes place on the morning of the fight.
If Jacobs would have participated, he would not have been allowed to weigh more than ten pounds above the division limit. Many speculate that Jacobs blew off that requirement in order to rehydrate his body to be as big as possible.
Blowing off the second day weigh-in made Jacobs ineligible to capture the IBF title, but he was still capable of securing the WBC, IBO, WBA belts.
In the opinion of Sanchez, there was nothing wrong with Jacobs' decision because the Brooklyn boxer was under no obligation to take part in the IBF's weigh-in.
"Everybody is always bigger than Golovkin. He's a small middleweight. Daniel Jacobs thought, or his team thought, that was in his best interest. And you can't fault him for that. That's what we are supposed to do as a team for Golovkin and that's what they are supposed to do as a team for Daniel Jacobs," Sanchez told BaylorIC Worldwide-TV.
"He did what he thought was best and he came up short. Would he have come up shorter if he had not been that heavy? Who knows. [If the shoe was on the other foot], I would have certainly discussed our options and I would have certainly discussed our objectives. And the situation called for them, in their mind, to do that. So I could only say that we would only do what was best for our interests."
"[Jacobs] made the weight on Friday morning and that's the only thing that he was required to do. If people think that Golovkin didn't look as good [because Jacobs was too big], I could care less. He looked good enough for three judges to win a fight."
