The legend that surrounds Gennady Golovkin (37-0, 33 KO), as eulogized by HBO and ESPN especially, may have experienced some embellishment following his unanimous decision over Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29 KO).
In fairness to Golovkin, Jacobs was bigger, stronger, and faster than himself. Jacobs should have won indeed; Golovkin should have only had a puncher's chance. The perception by many is that Jacbos outboxed Golovkin and deserved the decision. But worse, in my opinion, the technical flaws in Jacobs were apparent. Most noticeably, Jacobs' defense was lacking. Golovkin greatest asset, his heavy hands, also makes his punches slow; thus Jacobs should not have been hit as much as he was if he were a pure boxer.
There you have it, Golovkin was seemingly outboxed in the eyes of many by an opponent who may not have been a pure boxer at core in the manner of Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward, Vasyl Lomachenko, Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Moreover, Golovkin's best attribute is his power. Jacobs had been stopped by Dmitri Pirog on one punch and dropped by a light-hitting Sergio Mora. Jacobs took big hooks and uppercuts from Golovkin without going down. The official knockdown in the fight was more a matter of Golovkin's forward momentum forcing Jacobs back while he was not well balanced. Additionally, Kell Brook had been dropped at welterweight and took Golovkin's power well.
Rounds 1-3
These were clearly won by Jacobs. Golovkin did very little. Jacobs circled away from Golovkin while using his jab and the overhand right to connect on Golovkin. Particularly, Jacobs was consistenly landing the jab to the body to follow his jab to the head which got Golovkin to bring his guard up.
A very improper thing to do, Jacobs switched to southpaw by only the second round. That was definitely not enough time to measure Golovkin; his reactiveness was not as good from this less natural position; he had not yet been acclimated to Golovkin's power. Pure logic would suggest that the only punch that Golovkin could really land was a winging overhand right, especially while Jacobs was circling, if Jacobs was effectively using distance. Golovkin's jab was not a factor initially, he was not close enough to use his left hook; so Jacobs had no business switching to southpaw to give Golovkin a larger, more stationary, less reactive target on which to land his right hand from many angles.
They will say that this was to give Golovkin a different look, to confuse him. But Jacobs was more stationary in southpaw and allowed Golovkin to set himself. Rather, it was Jacobs' activity, movement, and the threat of his power that kept Golovkin off-balanced. Good boxers do not need to switch stances to confuse an opponent.
On the other hand, the real value in switching to southpaw would have been to change the angle in order to be more effective offensively. If switching to southpaw made his jab or right hook more effective, good.
The most effective use of he southpaw stance for Jacobs would have been to use it after mounting some offense from ortho dox in order to provide a follow-up from a different position, to create an opening, but also to change his position should Golovkin try to counter. In other words, it should have been seamless and non-telegraphed - to create the effect of an illusion, that he was not where Golovkin thought he was.
Round 4
Golovkin hit Jacobs with two consecutive right hands. Jacobs, not balanced to roll with the punches and spin away from the ropes, shifted his momentum backwards to create space (while Golovkin was moving forward) and fell down, creating Golovkin's sole "knockdown." (Once again, while against the ropes, Jacobs had to fall backwards to move himself away from Golovkin who was moving forward - this is bad ring awareness. From a southpaw stance, Jacobs would have wanted to circle away from the right hand, but he could not because the ropes were there. Thus he could only move towards Golovkin's right hand in the other direction. For Golovkin to simply throw the right hand was itself a trap the left Jacobs with no other option than to fall down out of harms way.)
After the knockdown, Golovkin had his way landing repeated jabs and overhand rights on Jacobs who had stopped throwing punches. The jab was landing for Golovkin because Jacobs was not maintaining space. Once again, Jacobs' jab should have neutralized Golovkin's because Jacobs was longer and quicker.
What may get overlooked is the fact that Jacobs did manage to land a right hook to the head in the last fifteen seconds that seemed to stagger Golovkin - Golovkin actually appeared unsteady on his feet.
Rounds 5-8
At no time did Jacobs really look fluid or natural out of the southpaw stance, but he was consistenly using the stance to land left hooks to Golovkin's stomach, often times doubling or tripling the left hand. Jacobs was probably available to get countered with right uppercuts at those times, but Golovkin found the change of stance awkward and thus he could not time Jacobs. In round seven, Jacobs managed to get hit repeatedly again with right hands while he is backed against the ropes from the southpaw stance.
Rounds 9-11:
Golovkin found success with the right uppercut as Jacobs was frequently leaning over with his head down. Jacobs would appear hurt but would recover quickly. Jacobs had most of his success working Golovkin to the body. Generally, Golovkin reacted more when he was hit to the body rather than to the head. At one point, Jacobs landed a three- to four-punch combination where he landed hooks to both sides of Golovkin's body. In these rounds, Jacobs outworked Golovkin. Jacobs was tired and his punches had little power on them. Golovkin's punches were less frequent but were noticeably heavier from the thudding sound made when his gloves impacted on Jacobs.
Round 12
This was a debatable round that could have been scored either way. Golovkin had a good start where he outworked Jacobs, but Jacobs ended better than he started. At this point, the fighters were frequently clinching and letting time slip away. There should have been a sense of urgency for both as the fight was close and competitive.
Golovkin was awarded the decision 115-112 x2, 114-113. Of note, one of the judges was Steve Weisfeld who had done HBO commentary as an occasional replacement for Harold Lederman. He tends not to score rounds based on who is landing the most clean punches; he instead prefers to give rounds to whomever he feels is the harder puncher. He had scored the fight 115-112 for Golovkin. That is a close scorecard for a judge who was likely favoring him very heavily since he was moving forward and landing harder punches.
What next
Golovkin's immediate plan is to capture his last title at middleweight by defeating WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders in his home country of Kazakhstan over the summer before facing Canelo Alvarez later in the year.
In fairness to Golovkin, Jacobs was bigger, stronger, and faster than himself. Jacobs should have won indeed; Golovkin should have only had a puncher's chance. The perception by many is that Jacbos outboxed Golovkin and deserved the decision. But worse, in my opinion, the technical flaws in Jacobs were apparent. Most noticeably, Jacobs' defense was lacking. Golovkin greatest asset, his heavy hands, also makes his punches slow; thus Jacobs should not have been hit as much as he was if he were a pure boxer.
There you have it, Golovkin was seemingly outboxed in the eyes of many by an opponent who may not have been a pure boxer at core in the manner of Floyd Mayweather, Andre Ward, Vasyl Lomachenko, Guillermo Rigondeaux.
Moreover, Golovkin's best attribute is his power. Jacobs had been stopped by Dmitri Pirog on one punch and dropped by a light-hitting Sergio Mora. Jacobs took big hooks and uppercuts from Golovkin without going down. The official knockdown in the fight was more a matter of Golovkin's forward momentum forcing Jacobs back while he was not well balanced. Additionally, Kell Brook had been dropped at welterweight and took Golovkin's power well.
Image: Los Angeles Times |
These were clearly won by Jacobs. Golovkin did very little. Jacobs circled away from Golovkin while using his jab and the overhand right to connect on Golovkin. Particularly, Jacobs was consistenly landing the jab to the body to follow his jab to the head which got Golovkin to bring his guard up.
A very improper thing to do, Jacobs switched to southpaw by only the second round. That was definitely not enough time to measure Golovkin; his reactiveness was not as good from this less natural position; he had not yet been acclimated to Golovkin's power. Pure logic would suggest that the only punch that Golovkin could really land was a winging overhand right, especially while Jacobs was circling, if Jacobs was effectively using distance. Golovkin's jab was not a factor initially, he was not close enough to use his left hook; so Jacobs had no business switching to southpaw to give Golovkin a larger, more stationary, less reactive target on which to land his right hand from many angles.
They will say that this was to give Golovkin a different look, to confuse him. But Jacobs was more stationary in southpaw and allowed Golovkin to set himself. Rather, it was Jacobs' activity, movement, and the threat of his power that kept Golovkin off-balanced. Good boxers do not need to switch stances to confuse an opponent.
Image: Bloody Elbow |
The most effective use of he southpaw stance for Jacobs would have been to use it after mounting some offense from ortho dox in order to provide a follow-up from a different position, to create an opening, but also to change his position should Golovkin try to counter. In other words, it should have been seamless and non-telegraphed - to create the effect of an illusion, that he was not where Golovkin thought he was.
Round 4
Golovkin hit Jacobs with two consecutive right hands. Jacobs, not balanced to roll with the punches and spin away from the ropes, shifted his momentum backwards to create space (while Golovkin was moving forward) and fell down, creating Golovkin's sole "knockdown." (Once again, while against the ropes, Jacobs had to fall backwards to move himself away from Golovkin who was moving forward - this is bad ring awareness. From a southpaw stance, Jacobs would have wanted to circle away from the right hand, but he could not because the ropes were there. Thus he could only move towards Golovkin's right hand in the other direction. For Golovkin to simply throw the right hand was itself a trap the left Jacobs with no other option than to fall down out of harms way.)
After the knockdown, Golovkin had his way landing repeated jabs and overhand rights on Jacobs who had stopped throwing punches. The jab was landing for Golovkin because Jacobs was not maintaining space. Once again, Jacobs' jab should have neutralized Golovkin's because Jacobs was longer and quicker.
What may get overlooked is the fact that Jacobs did manage to land a right hook to the head in the last fifteen seconds that seemed to stagger Golovkin - Golovkin actually appeared unsteady on his feet.
Rounds 5-8
At no time did Jacobs really look fluid or natural out of the southpaw stance, but he was consistenly using the stance to land left hooks to Golovkin's stomach, often times doubling or tripling the left hand. Jacobs was probably available to get countered with right uppercuts at those times, but Golovkin found the change of stance awkward and thus he could not time Jacobs. In round seven, Jacobs managed to get hit repeatedly again with right hands while he is backed against the ropes from the southpaw stance.
Rounds 9-11:
Golovkin found success with the right uppercut as Jacobs was frequently leaning over with his head down. Jacobs would appear hurt but would recover quickly. Jacobs had most of his success working Golovkin to the body. Generally, Golovkin reacted more when he was hit to the body rather than to the head. At one point, Jacobs landed a three- to four-punch combination where he landed hooks to both sides of Golovkin's body. In these rounds, Jacobs outworked Golovkin. Jacobs was tired and his punches had little power on them. Golovkin's punches were less frequent but were noticeably heavier from the thudding sound made when his gloves impacted on Jacobs.
Round 12
This was a debatable round that could have been scored either way. Golovkin had a good start where he outworked Jacobs, but Jacobs ended better than he started. At this point, the fighters were frequently clinching and letting time slip away. There should have been a sense of urgency for both as the fight was close and competitive.
Golovkin was awarded the decision 115-112 x2, 114-113. Of note, one of the judges was Steve Weisfeld who had done HBO commentary as an occasional replacement for Harold Lederman. He tends not to score rounds based on who is landing the most clean punches; he instead prefers to give rounds to whomever he feels is the harder puncher. He had scored the fight 115-112 for Golovkin. That is a close scorecard for a judge who was likely favoring him very heavily since he was moving forward and landing harder punches.
Image: Sporting News |
Golovkin's immediate plan is to capture his last title at middleweight by defeating WBO titleholder Billy Joe Saunders in his home country of Kazakhstan over the summer before facing Canelo Alvarez later in the year.
COMMENTS