By Edward Chaykovsky
Hall of Famer and former five division world champion Sugar Ray Leonard gave his take on the potential showdown between IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady 'GGG' Golovkin (36-0, 33KOs) and mandatory challenger Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29KOs).
The fight is being negotiated for an HBO televised date of December 10th.
Golovkin is the WBA's "super champion" at the 160-pound limit, while Jacobs holds the "regular" version of the same title. In order to eliminate any confusion, the sanctioning body has ordered them to face each other to establish a single WBA beltholder at the weight.
The two fighters are already past the negotiating deadline of October 12th. The World Boxing Association is expected to announced a solid date for a purse bid very shortly. Both sides are looking to finalize a deal before that happens, because Jacobs is not in favor of the purse bid terms - which give Golovkin a 75-25 percentage split of the money.
Leonard is a big fan of both fighters. On paper Golovkin is a solid favorite, but Leonard believes the fight is a lot closer than it actually appears. He was told by former world champion Sergio Mora, that Jacobs hits like a heavyweight. Mora was stopped twice by Jacobs.
What will determine the outcome? Leonard believes the man who lands first will be the man who walks away with his hand raised.
"There is talk of a possible fight with Triple G and Daniel Jacobs. You guys know how I feel about Triple G and he gets better, and better, with each fight, each time out. Daniel Jacobs, I love this young man. He's proven himself each and every time," Leonard said in a recorded question and answer session.
"My good friend Sergio Mora told me that this guy hits so hard that you don't even realize, he hits like a heavyweight. This fight here, if you look at the papers, Triple G by far wins. But if you know Daniel Jacobs - it's a fight. This fight here will be determined by who hits who first, pretty much - and who stays in control. This is a fight you can't miss."
