GGG vs. Jacobs: Robbery?

I was on hand this weekend for the middleweight mega fight between the WBA (regular) champ Daniel Jacobs and the universally recognized middleweight champion of the world Gennady Glolovkin (GGG). This fight was a beaut, and a masterful display of boxing from both fighters.

Everyone knows of Golovkin’s (37-0-33KOs) devastating KO power and seeing as Jacobs (32-2-29KOs) has been dropped and knocked out before, people believed that GGG was just going to come in and steamroll Jacobs (as he has 95% of his previous opponents). But not Saturday night. Jacobs came to WIN and if GGG truly wanted to stake his claim as the king of the middleweight division, then he was going to have to put on the performance of his life!

Unfortunately for GGG and the array of Kazakhs that painted Madison Square Garden Blue and Gold in their GGG baseball caps, Daniel Jacobs came to Madison Square Garden to win. As a native of Brownsville, Brooklyn, Jacobs was in his backyard Saturday night and he damn sure wasn’t going to let GGG just come in to NYC and have his way, as if his name were Bill De Blasio.

Instead, Danny put on a masterful display of boxing. He was able to outfox and out-maneuver GGG for the first few rounds, until in round 4 when GGG was able to send Danny down with a solid right hand as Jacobs was backing up along the ropes. Jacobs wasn’t really hurt, though. He was able to beat the 10 count, but once he got up, GGG went for the kill. You could sense the urgency in the fact GGG was able to push Jacobs back with his jab and was pounding shots to the body and head of Jacobs. Thanks to Jacobs’ ring generalship and elusive, mobile ability, he was able to survive the Kazakhs onslaught and make it to the end of the round.

During the rest periods, Jacobs corner kept reminding him to stick to the game plan and box GGG, as GGG’s plans were beginning to unravel and desperation had set in. He was coming to kill, he didn’t think that Jacobs would make it as far or box as smart as he did on Saturday night. It seems as though he underestimated Jacobs’ speed and mobility, and most importantly, KNOWING the ring. I feel that GGG was influenced by the Jacobs of the past, and that Jacobs would resort to his power shooting style and careless aggression like he’s done in previous fights. Danny was focused, though. He was home, and his family was seated in the front row. Unlike several instances in the past, Danny was able to keep it all together from a mental perspective.

Image via Tom Hogan/K2 Promotions

I was fortunate enough to be there live for the fight. I was on the edge of my seat from rounds 1-12. I tried as much as I could to watch this fight with an unbiased eye. I trust my judgement and I know the sport of boxing. My unbiased opinion was that Jacobs won the fight on Saturday night. I only gave GGG a few rounds and of course the extra point for the 4th round knockdown. I’m a huge GGG fan and against anyone else, I would be rooting for GGG to win. I just don’t believe that he did enough to win on Saturday night. That’s why when I heard that he’d won via unanimous decision, I was a bit taken back. I know that being there, it could be harder to judge a fight because you’re often distracted by people and the roars from the fans, but I was able to watch the fight again on television and I still feel that Jacobs deserved the decision. Either way you look at it, it was a damn good, evenly-matched fight. But even if GGG did deserve the decision, was it really UNANIMOUS? Anyway, you know how the sport if boxing is. Do you think they were going to allow little Ol’ Danny Jacobs to destroy the possibility of a BILLION dollar mega fight between GGG and Canelo Alvarez? After all, would GGG vs Canelo be as profitable to boxing’s promoters and snakes with a loss on GGG’s record from his last fight?