Daniel
Jacobs executed a terrific game plan against middleweight king Gennady
Golovkin. Switching constantly between orthodox and southpaw, Jacobs confounded
Golovkin through large stretches of their fight. From both stances, he fired
sweeping hooks, sharp crosses and short uppercuts. Jacobs' approach kept
Golovkin from applying consistent pressure; he didn't know where the punches would be coming from. In numerous occasions, Golovkin
connected with shots at close range and then voluntarily backed off after receiving Jacobs'
counters. For boxing spectators, Golovkin in temporary retreat was
certainly a new phenomenon.
What won the fight for Golovkin in my opinion (Golovkin prevailed
by 115-112, 115-112 and 114-113 – I scored it for him 115-113, having it
six-five for Golovkin with one round even) was his lead right hand. That shot
sent Jacobs to the canvas in the fourth round and staggered him at a couple
of other points during the fight. The only other punch that seemed to work for
Golovkin was his jab, which wasn't the consistent weapon that it had been in
previous fights but it was still effective enough to help him win rounds.
However, the big story of the fight was Jacobs. Having been
knocked out in his only previous loss of his career and dropped recently by
light-hitting Sergio Mora, Jacobs wasn't expected to make it to the final bell.
However, not only did Jacobs survive all 12 rounds, but at many points in the
match he was clearly the superior talent. Using his height, reach
and athleticism, he mostly stuck to a disciplined game plan of quick flurries,
angles and switching stances. He didn't engage in a war and kept Golovkin from
timing him or walking him down on a consistent basis.
Jacobs' trainer, Andre Rozier, devised a clever game plan that
accentuated his fighter's size, boxing skills and athleticism to keep Golovkin
from fully asserting himself. At times, Rozier voiced his displeasure with
Jacobs pulling straight back or losing concentration at the end of rounds but
Rozier should certainly be pleased with his fighter's execution. Jacobs' and
Rozier's work introduced a boxing god to mortality. Sure, Golovkin may have won
the fight but he'll never be looked at with the same trepidation by potential
opponents. It's not that future boxing foes will, or even can, duplicate Jacobs'
game plan, but there no longer will exist the aura of invincibility around Golovkin,
a factor that has helped him dominate the top levels of boxing prior to Saturday.
But let's not disparage Golovkin's effort against Jacobs. He earned a tough victory when things weren't necessarily working well for him, a demonstration of
significant intestinal fortitude. Facing an athletic, rangy, skilled boxer with
power, Golovkin landed what he could and was successful at hurting Jacobs with
strafing right hands. It wasn't his best performance but not all opponents are compliant in the ring. Golovkin beat a determined,
talented fighter. His offense was just a tad more consistent and his blows were
the better shots.
At 34 and with over 350 amateur bouts, it's certainly possible
that Golovkin's physical prime is behind him. However, let's not discount that
Jacobs' approach might have given Golovkin problems earlier in his career as
well. Yes, there were moments on Saturday where Golovkin couldn't pull the
trigger like he had in previous fights but that could also be attributed to
Jacobs' tricky style as much as Golovkin's potential physical decline. In short, both
Golovkin's age and Jacobs' effectiveness should be given significant weight
when assessing GGG's performance on Saturday.
What was most telling about Golovkin was how he reacted to Jacobs'
power. Instead of staying in the pocket and banging with multi-punch
combinations, Golovkin often got out of range to reset. Although his chin held
up wonderfully throughout the fight, it was clear by how he reacted to Jacobs'
shots that Golovkin didn't feel safe to stand and trade. Jacobs' body work,
specifically his left uppercut out of the southpaw stance, sent Golovkin away
on numerous occasions. These moments should give future GGG opponents hope.
Golovkin has always seemed unflappable but now doubt has finally started to
creep in. I'm not saying that he necessarily loses his next fight but now one
can see how he will struggle in the future. If GGG no longer feels
comfortable exchanging like he did in the past, he becomes a much different and
far more beatable fighter.
Ultimately, Golovkin-Jacobs may not have been a spectacular bout, but it was an
engrossing and memorable one. We learned important things about both fighters.
Jacobs removed all doubts about his physical and psychological makeup and
Golovkin had just enough savvy and offense to defeat a gifted and determined
opponent. The scores could have gone either way and in the final analysis Golovkin-Jacobs was one of the few occasions in boxing where both combatants exited as deserved
winners.
***
Pound-for-pound king Roman Gonzalez and former junior bantamweight
titlist Srisaket Sor Rungvisai engaged in an epic war on the Golovkin-Jacobs
undercard. Sor Rungvisai, a little-known, hard-hitting southpaw from Thailand
immediately announced his presence with a hard left hand
to the chest that dropped Gonzalez in the opening round. By the end of the second round, Gonzalez
had successfully battled back with expert displays of combination punching,
throwing almost every punch imaginable and landing with pinpoint precision.
Rounds three through six were vintage Gonzalez displays. He blasted
Sor Rungvisai around the ring with a relentless offensive attack. Although Sor
Rungvisai continued to land, Gonzalez's clean punching repeatedly snapped his
opponent's head back and forced him into retreat. In particular, Gonzalez had
sustained success with a right hand/left uppercut combination, of which Sor
Rungvisai couldn't find a proper defense.
However, as the fight progressed, a series of head butts (from my vantage
point, none of them intentional) opened up two cuts over Gonzalez's right eye
and as the bout continued, Roman's face was a bloody disaster. Rungvisai's
consistent sharp left hands didn't help matters either as Gonzalez's cornerman,
Miguel Diaz, couldn't contain the bleeding.
From my perspective, Gonzalez started to fade in the seventh round
and struggled in the back half of the fight. Although he continued to march
forward, his offensive attack lacked its previous dynamism. With Gonzalez not
fighting at his same ferocious clip, Sor Rungvisai became increasingly
emboldened. Earlier he had retreated after feeling Gonzalez's power but in the
latter rounds, he remained in the pocket, firing hard left hands and
withstanding Gonzalez's forays.
Gonzalez rallied with a huge 12th round, where he unloaded his
arsenal attempting to end the fight. Although, Sor Rungvisai made it to the
final bell, he was in survival mode at several points in the round. On my card, I had the fight a draw, as one of the judges had it.
However, the other two saw Sor Rungvisai winning by two points, acceptable
scores in my opinion.
Nevertheless, the decision was wildly unpopular in the arena and
very few on social media had Sor Rungvisai winning. I certainly think that the
fight could've played much differently in the stands at Madison Square Garden
than how it did on television (where I was watching). Gonzalez was clearly the aggressor
throughout the majority of the fight. He continued to press forward and fire
shots. However, Rungvisai countered very well off the ropes. Those shots
are far easier to see on television with multiple angles than in an arena
hundreds of feet away. In the second half of the fight, Sor Rungvisai seemed to
be connecting with the stronger blows.
Ultimately, Glenn Feldman, Julie Lederman and Waleska Roldan
turned in defendable scorecards. It should be noted that East Coast judges are
far less inclined to score aggression than those in other jurisdictions. To
them, clean punching matters more than other scoring criteria such as ring
generalship and effective aggression. I'm not saying that Saturday's judges
were right or wrong, just that different regions in the U.S. look at scoring
fights differently. I'm fairly confident that Gonzalez would've won Saturday's
fight had it taken place in Nevada or California, jurisdictions that seem to
place more emphasis on the fighter who comes forward.
Gonzalez may have lost his "0" on Saturday but his
effort only helped build his legend. Overcoming an early knockdown and gushing blood throughout the bout's second half, he demonstrated why he has endeared himself to fight fans the world over.
He sought no excuses and refused to look for a way out of the fight. He faced a
rugged, hard-hitting, proud opponent and refused to yield.
Although clearly acknowledging Gonzalez's courageous display on
Saturday, it should be stated that he hasn't looked comfortable at junior
bantamweight (115 lbs.). Against Carlos Cuadras and Sor Rungvisai, he took significant
punishment. Gonzalez started his career at 105 lbs., and three divisions north –
and a whole lot of ring wars later – he seems to have met his physical limit.
At 29, he's also at an age when many smaller fighters tend to decline rapidly.
Unfortunately for American boxing fans, most of Gonzalez's best moments in his
career transpired in Japan, Nicaragua and Mexico. Until 2015, his fights
weren't consistently broadcasted in the U.S. Thus, the overwhelming majority of
American fight enthusiasts were deprived of watching Roman's awesome peak. And
while HBO deserves belated credit for bringing Gonzalez stateside, a lack
of imagination and a bias against smaller fighters kept him away from U.S.
airwaves for far too long (again, I do credit HBO for eventually committing to
Gonzalez).
Hopefully, U.S networks will become more imaginative with their
boxing programming. There will be other smaller-weight fighters who can
captivate American audiences if given the proper exposure. Luis Nery, a
22-year-old Mexican bantamweight knockout artist, may be one such fighter. He's
in line to fight Shinsuke Yamanaka, the bantamweight king, later this year. If
Nery emerges with the title, and it's certainly a possibility, a U.S. network
should jump on him; that could be a wonderfully fruitful relationship.
If he wants them, Roman Gonzalez still has several attractive
fights on the horizon. Alluring rematches
against Juan Estrada, Cuadras and Sor Rungvisai would be welcome at HBO
and there's always the big-money option against Naoya Inoue in Japan. It's
certainly possible that Gonzalez can reclaim a title for a final coda to his
memorable career.
Gonzalez will be remembered as a can't-miss fighter. As offensively gifted as any in the sport, he plied his
trade with a technical mastery and ferocious zeal unmatched in
contemporary boxing. Ultimately, it's unfortunate that so many fight fans were
deprived of seeing his best in the ring, but even in the autumn of his career,
Gonzalez demonstrated why he was such an extraordinary talent.
Adam Abramowitz is the founder/head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com.
Adam Abramowitz is the founder/head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com.
He's a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board.
You really should have included that Jacobs came into the fight with a large weight advantage due to skipping out on the morning weigh in. It was a MW against a CW in the ring last night.
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