Finally – Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs are going to
fight! March 18 at Madison Square Garden on HBO Pay-Per-View – what isn’t to
like!
Well, lots.
GGG and Jacobs knocked out their opponents one day apart and
it took until mid-December to make a fight ordered in early September. Par for
the course with Al Haymon-advised fighters.
Jacobs held all the leverage because GGG’s goal is to hold
all the middleweight belts. Any pulling out or making of different fights means
GGG is stripped of the WBA belt and Jacobs wins it without throwing a punch. No
way he makes the fight at that point.
Jacobs asked for a 40% cut which GGG’s team rightly balked
at. Jacobs never fought a top middleweight except for Dmitry Pirog. Fans of
Jacobs will point to Peter Quillin, and Sergio Mora as legit challenges but
that’s a foolish argument. Mora is years past his sell-by date, and in the
first fight his balky ankle – not Jacobs’s power – ended the fight. Quillin is
also a pretender. If not for a decidedly partisan crowd, no judge in their
right mind would have given him the fight over Andy Lee. As it stands the fight
was a draw even though Lee outclassed him.
Jacobs arrives with a 7th round knockout of Mora
which followed his 1st round knockout of the Quillin. These are not
big fights – Jacobs has no name recognition outside of Brooklyn, the only
people giving him any chance are PBC die-hards who find every Haymon move a
stroke of brilliance.
GGG’s ambition allowed Jacobs to drag negotiations on longer
than necessary.
But, onto Jacobs and why this will not be a compelling
fight.
GGG is a pressure fighter with no holes. Kell Brook used
speed and impeccable technique to cause the Kazakh some problems, but there’s
nothing Brook does that Jacobs replicates. Brook moves well and throws
impressive combinations. GGG’s pressure style plays to Brook’s strengths, while
Jacobs only fight against a substantial pressure fighter was the Pirog fight.
Why did Pirog win? Jacobs holds his hands at upper to mid
chest level. This means he must raise them to throw at his opponent’s head. The
style would be fine if Jacobs was a body puncher, but he’s not. Jacobs also
stands straight up. The combination of carrying his hands low with standing
straight is how a wobbly Mora knocked down Jacobs in their first fight. Pirog could
pressure Jacobs and avoid getting hit in return. By the time Jacobs brought his
hands up, Pirog shifted his weight back and Jacobs fired at air. Jacobs did land
many more punches than Pirog, but Pirog’s punches were incredibly damaging.
When the knockout punch was delivered in the 5th
round, Jacobs spent much of the fight on the back foot. Unlike the Mora fight,
Jacobs couldn’t fight off Pirog’s pressure.
GGG is the pressure fighter’s pressure fighter. In fact – he
was supposed to fight Pirog before Pirog suffered a career-ending back injury.
GGG is a master of cutting off the ring through incredible footwork. GGG uses
his jab to get the opponent on the back foot, then systemically drive them back
into a corner. There he unloads a barrage of hooks and upper cuts, including
the devastating liver-bound left hook. Opponents will find the escape route,
and GGG will sometimes even shift his feet to follow his opponent along the
ropes into the next corner. For a visual on how this works, check out Lee Wylie’s
“Way of the Hunter.” For GGG’s opponents, there’s no reprieve from the
pressure.
Other fighters will let the opponent out of the corner and must
re-establish the pressure. GGG’s footwork allows him to keep pressure on his
opponent, allowing them no time to regroup.
The Brook fight is most instructive on how to possibly blunt
GGG’s pressure. It involves counter punching in combinations and using lateral
movement. Except, Brook has a broken eye socket so the best we can say about
that strategy is its inconclusive.
Whenever real power threatens GGG, he establishes his jab.
The David Lemieux fight is instructive here. GGG hasn’t fought anyone else with
Lemieux’s power. Some will incorrectly claim Jacobs cracks harder, but Lemieux’s
left hook is more compact and violent. GGG knew he had to control distance, and
turned the fight into a jab-fest. Lemieux never had a chance to unleash the
hook with great effect. There was one moment when GGG’s hook and Lemieux’s hook
connected simultaneously. Lemieux staggered backwards and GGG seemed unfazed.
This moment is why Jacobs stands no chance and why GGG takes punches better
than any fighter today.
Look at GGG’s stance. Shoulders are constantly raised, chin
is always tucked. Now watch Jacobs – stands straight up and chin is out.
Lemieux had raised shoulders but the chin wasn’t as tucked. Furthermore, GGG’s
jabfest caused Lemieux to spend the last four rounds of that fight manically
raising and lowering his hands. GGG’s precise placement beat the manic
movement. Jacobs keeps his hands too low and doesn’t move his head very well.
If Jacobs gets off a clean punch, GGG will pound his chest and nod at Jacobs.
That’s his move. GGG’s massive neck and shoulder muscles allow him to absorb
clean shots without much damage. They allow him to throw precise jabs that feel
more like straight right hands.
To answer the question of how Jacobs can win, it involves
completely reinventing his style. It can’t be done. He’s too comfortable
standing straight up and keeping his hands low. His hands aren’t fast enough to
keep GGG from pressuring him. Pressure fighters like Pirog showed that Jacobs
can be crowded and knocked out with a clean shot to the chin.
If Jacobs lasts more than 5 rounds, he should be very proud. Jacobs and his team know all this, and that’s why a fight that was ordered in the second week of September took until Dec. 17 to be made.
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