Gennady “GGG” Golovkin improved to (37-0, 33 KOs) as he defeated Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) by unanimous decision in front of 19,939 fans at Madison Square Garden to retain his middleweight titles.
This was the first time in Golovkin’s career that he fought 12 rounds, which ended his 23 consecutive wins by knockout streak that began in 2008.Although judges Steve Weisfeld and Don Trella scored the fight 115-112 for Golovkin, and judge Max DeLuca scored the fight 114-113 Golovkin, many media members and fans thought Jacobs won the fight.
Since we scored the first round even, we here at Elite Sports NY had Jacobs winning 116-112.
CompuBox saw Golovkin landing 231 out of 615 punches (37.6%) and saw Jacobs landing 175 out of 541 punches (32.3%).
Jacobs had the edge in connected power shots landing 144 out of 371 (38.8%) to Golovkin’s 126 out of 259 (48.6%). But Golovkin was far more effective with his jab landing 105 out of 356 (29.5%) to Jacobs landing just 31 out of 170 (18.2%).
This was by far and away Golovkin’s toughest fight to date. Jacobs frustrated Golovkin all night long by keeping the fight in the center of the ring and switching from conventional to a southpaw stance.
Golovkin was able to land his signature power punches in round four as he dropped Jacobs after two right hands to the head. It was only the third time in his career that Jacobs has been knocked down.
Golovkin also won round 5 by using his jab and uppercut. But after that, the momentum of the fight changed as Jacobs quicker hand and foot speed began to dictate the fight.
He was beating Golovkin to the punch and landing the cleaner and sharper punches. More importantly, as the fight wore on, he was taking GGG punches better.
Jacobs won the last three rounds on two of three of the judges’ scorecards, but it wouldn’t be enough to pull off the biggest victory of his career.
After the fight, Jacobs expressed that he felt he won the fight.
“I think I won the fight, and I think the fans support me,” Jacobs said. “I think I won by two rounds at least. They want the big fight [for Golovkin against Canelo Alvarez], and Daniel Jacobs got X’d out. I won the fight, and I won the decision, and all I can do is be gracious in the decision.”
The victorious Golovkin spoke highly of Jacobs after the fight.
“I respect Daniel Jacobs, and he did a very good job and clean job,” Golovkin said. “Daniel Jacobs is my favorite fighter — quality, very good fighter after I knocked him down. I respect his team.”
This fight definitely warrants a rematch but time will tell if that will happen. Golovkin is expected to face WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders in June so that he can hold all four major belts, and then he’s hoping to finally face Canelo Alvarez in September.
We don’t know what’s next for Jacobs if he’s unable to get a rematch. But one thing is for sure despite the loss his stock went up with his performance, and fans will want to see him back in the ring soon.