Gennady Golovkin vs Daniel Jacobs: 3 keys to the fight

Body Punching

Few fighters are more effective and ruthless when it comes to cutting off the ring than Gennady Golovkin. Because Daniel Jacobs is a gifted athlete, Golovkin will want to flood his proverbial basement when he’s able to corner the Brooklynite; this will serve to sap the explosiveness from Jacobs’ legs and corral his lateral movement/ability to escape.

Golovkin can occupy Jacobs’ guard with his jab and a follow-up left hook, which he can then double up downstairs; this has been a consistently devastating combination for him, and he used that same rib-rattling body punch to drop David Lemieux in their fight. Also, despite the fact that questions linger about the vulnerability of Jacobs’ chin given his knockout loss to Dmitry Pirog, Triple G will likely avoid head-hunting due to the risk of getting countered by one of Jacobs’ bombs.

As for Jacobs, a varied attack will be essential partly because Golovkin’s head seems to be carved of cinderblock. Golovkin possesses seemingly inhuman punch resistance, and flush shots, which he often allows to bounce off his granite forehead, only galvanize him. As stated above, Jacobs doesn’t jab often, but he may try to shoot some straight shots at Golovkin’s chest and midsection, if only to prompt the Kazakh to drop his guard.

Also, on the occasions where Jacobs seizes the initiative and is able to throw combinations, he must remember to punctuate attacks with some body work. Indeed, Jacobs has power, but he’s unlikely to drop, or even wobble, Golovkin with a single shot. In previous fights, there have been spells where Golovkin has been tagged for unanswered moments — even welterweight Kell Brook generated a few of these spells. A balanced diet of head and body shots from Jacobs may turn Golovkin reactive for enough spells to allow the challenger win rounds.

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And yet, despite all these tactical considerations, Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs could boil down to a couple of simple factors: Jacobs’ chin and the ability to withstand Golovkin’s inevitable fusillades. Thus far, not a single prizefighter at the elite level has been able to battle Golovkin on their terms. That’s what makes Golovkin special, and that’s the herculean challenge Jacobs has to overcome.