Gennady Golovkin defended his middleweight championship for the 18th straight time by defeating Daniel Jacobs by the scores of 115-112 twice and 114-113. This was the first time that GGG had gone 12 full rounds in his career. The twelve round decision also put an end to GGG's 23 fight knockout streak.
"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."
Golovkin also said after the fight, "I need the decision," he said. "I wasn't thinking that I needed the 12th round to win the fight. This was my first test at 12 rounds. I needed a quality fight -- not just the 12 rounds."
Abel Sanchez said after the fight "We got the rounds in. We got the tough rounds that we needed. I give G a 7½ or 8 out of 10. Daniel was very strong and had athleticism, and Gennady's accuracy was not quite as pinpoint as in the past, but I'm happy with Gennady's performance, and I'm happy the fans got to see a great fight."
The fight was a game of cat and mouse for the first few rounds, but in the fourth the two got into a fight and GGG dropped Jacobs with two right hands. Jacobs didn't look that hurt and got back up and continued to fight.
The key to the fight for GGG seemed to be the uppercut and his jab. He would catch Jacobs over and over with that uppercut and he rocked him quite a few times. The jab was also paying dividends for him as he tried controlling the range and it was a power jab.
Jacobs also had quite a few moments and seemed to have a good gameplan. He used a lot of movement and controlled the distance very well in this fight. GGG does a great job of cutting off the ring, but it didn't matter in this fight. Every time GGG cut off the ring and had him cornered, Jacobs used his footwork and movement to get out of harms way. Jacobs confused GGG for most of the fight with his movement. But there were definitely times that Danny was moving, but not throwing much and that's where GGG was able to win those rounds.
"After the knockdown, I told him he'd have to kill me," Jacobs said. "When I got up, I thought, 'This is all he has?' There were many times during the fight I went toe-to-toe because I knew I could. I got back up, and I thought I won the fight."
GGG landed 231 of 615 with a connect rate of 38%. Jacobs landed 175 of 541 with a connect rate of 32%. Attendance for the fight was 19,939.
At the post fight press conference GGG said that he wanted to fight Billy Joe Saunders in June.
On the undercard Srisaket Sor Rungvisai scores a huge upset over Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. Rungvisai boxed very well in this fight, but most people thought Chocolatito had won. Chocolatito seemed to control the action and land the harder shots, but in the end Rungvisai won a majority decision to hand Chocolatito his first loss. Chcolatito landed 441 of 1013 punches for 44%. Sor Rungvisai landed 284 of 940 punches for 30%.
Chocolatito was knocked down in the first round from a right hand to the body. It didn't look like too big of a shot, but it was enough to put him down. The fight was a brutal war. Both fighters went after each other and in the end the judges had it 114-113 twice and 113-113 for a majority decision for Rungvisai.
"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."
Golovkin also said after the fight, "I need the decision," he said. "I wasn't thinking that I needed the 12th round to win the fight. This was my first test at 12 rounds. I needed a quality fight -- not just the 12 rounds."
Abel Sanchez said after the fight "We got the rounds in. We got the tough rounds that we needed. I give G a 7½ or 8 out of 10. Daniel was very strong and had athleticism, and Gennady's accuracy was not quite as pinpoint as in the past, but I'm happy with Gennady's performance, and I'm happy the fans got to see a great fight."
The fight was a game of cat and mouse for the first few rounds, but in the fourth the two got into a fight and GGG dropped Jacobs with two right hands. Jacobs didn't look that hurt and got back up and continued to fight.
The key to the fight for GGG seemed to be the uppercut and his jab. He would catch Jacobs over and over with that uppercut and he rocked him quite a few times. The jab was also paying dividends for him as he tried controlling the range and it was a power jab.
Jacobs also had quite a few moments and seemed to have a good gameplan. He used a lot of movement and controlled the distance very well in this fight. GGG does a great job of cutting off the ring, but it didn't matter in this fight. Every time GGG cut off the ring and had him cornered, Jacobs used his footwork and movement to get out of harms way. Jacobs confused GGG for most of the fight with his movement. But there were definitely times that Danny was moving, but not throwing much and that's where GGG was able to win those rounds.
"After the knockdown, I told him he'd have to kill me," Jacobs said. "When I got up, I thought, 'This is all he has?' There were many times during the fight I went toe-to-toe because I knew I could. I got back up, and I thought I won the fight."
GGG landed 231 of 615 with a connect rate of 38%. Jacobs landed 175 of 541 with a connect rate of 32%. Attendance for the fight was 19,939.
At the post fight press conference GGG said that he wanted to fight Billy Joe Saunders in June.
On the undercard Srisaket Sor Rungvisai scores a huge upset over Roman "Chocolatito" Gonzalez. Rungvisai boxed very well in this fight, but most people thought Chocolatito had won. Chocolatito seemed to control the action and land the harder shots, but in the end Rungvisai won a majority decision to hand Chocolatito his first loss. Chcolatito landed 441 of 1013 punches for 44%. Sor Rungvisai landed 284 of 940 punches for 30%.
Chocolatito was knocked down in the first round from a right hand to the body. It didn't look like too big of a shot, but it was enough to put him down. The fight was a brutal war. Both fighters went after each other and in the end the judges had it 114-113 twice and 113-113 for a majority decision for Rungvisai.
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