Mother Nature wanted many folks to get a day off, so she dumped a bunch of snow on NYC, and that had ramifications.
Among them, apart from my kids luxuriating in the snow and not book learning, was the cancellation of a Tuesday workout featuring the top tier of performers on the Saturday night boxing extravaganza at Madison Square Garden. A conference call featuring headliners Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs was held in its stead.
Golovkin, the middleweight kingpin, said that he thinks everyone is amped to give a great show, as an introductory opener. The boxer said he has family and friends around, and they help keep him loose. “This is my business,” said Golovkin when asked how he manages to get in a savage mode when he sees a foe who is likable, as Jacobs is. Personal feelings get tossed aside; “this is sport, every fight is different.”
Golovkin told us he did see the David Lemieux KO of Curtis Stevens, and he noted it was a great stopout. It made for good TV, he said.
Golovkin trainer Abel Sanchez spoke on the call. He said that the fighters will be getting a bit more antsy, because they are cooped up. He said they will stay on point, making weight, eating right. The trainer said that his guy isn’t into movies or books, he is able to stay on point mentally. I asked, jokingly, would Abel maybe take a snow day, and bring Gennady to a hill to go sledding. He cracked that I was supposed to pick them up. But truly, what is the regimen on such a cooped up day. All the hard work has been done, Sanchez said.
GGG ate breakfast, will eat dinner at 5 PM, do some treadmill after, and then hit the sack. His weight, today, is 160, the trainer said.
Sanchez also said that GGG, right now, is in the top 5 all time as a middleweight. He has the highest KO ratio, and he needs a few more fights to get to that Ray Robinson level.
Sanchez said that main sparring partner David Benavidez was superlative, and in fact maybe has faster hands than Jacobs, and his power is similarly top tier. He said that he learned from the Kell Brook win that GGG likes to give a show, and that’s why he rumbled.
Is Jacobs the biggest fight on paper for GGG to this point? He thinks yes, Jacobs is “very smart” and he has beaten cancer, so his will is immense. “I think he’s the most gifted” of all foes, on paper, to this point.
Abel was asked how GGG manages to be such a KO artist. A great amateur start is helpful, he said. This could be a 12 round fight, and his guy will be ready to rock. If it goes 12, then Jacobs will be “punished,” he noted.
A question on the weigh in…the weigh in will take place at 9 am Friday, and thus, extra eating and hydration will maybe result in a larger Jacobs. Both guys will have an advantage, the trainer said, because they have extra time to eat and drink. GGG said Jacobs, yes, will be bigger. “Ten or 15 pounds is not a lot,” he said, interestingly, in light of all the boo birds who took David Lemieux to heavy task for being seven pounds more than Curtis Stevens last weekend. Loeffler noted that the IBF has a morning of weigh in, and they demand the fighter gain no more than ten pounds between weigh in and fight day. (Lemieux didn’t do the IBF weigh in, day of, so he wasn’t eligible to win or retain an IBF strap.)
K2 promoter Tom Loeffler was on the line; he said things are still moving smoothly, despite the snow dump. He expects the weather to be cooperative moving forward.
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Danny Jacobs, trainer Andre Rozier and nutritionist Chris Algieri took part in a Tuesday conference call to hype the Saturday showdown between Jacobs and Gennady Golovkin, at Madiso Square Garden, after GGG did his thing.
“I look forward to that pressure” come fight night, Jacobs shared. He has iterated this time and again, that he won’t be intimidated prior to the fight, that he wants this challenge, that he has wanted it from since he started boxing, at age 14. He wants to be able to show that he can rise above, beat the badass, show doubters wrong.
I asked Jacobs if he though GGG looked diminished, at age 34, against Kell Brook, in his last outing.
“One can can argue that,” Jacobs said. Carl Froch said it best, he shared, that Golovkins’ best years are behind him. But of course, he is still dangerous, however.
“I think it’s perfect timing for me,” Jacobs continued. It is similar to when Gabe Rosado was on the verge of beating Peter Quillin, Jacobs stated. He said he wanted to be the first to do that..
“Kell wasn’t close to beating GGG but he did expose that there was a lack of movement, speed, ring generalship..he just didn’t have the size but he did expose GGG.” He said that it will need to be proven Saturday, of course. He doesn’t have the same style as Brook, but he has weapons galore, he said.
Jacobs said that looks can be decieving; pics can show that someone looks great, but that might be decieving. Not him; “I’m content with where I’m at,” he said.
The call was held on short notice, as a snowdump caused cancellation of a workout, to be held for media.
Jacobs was asked about his designation as a cancer survivor. He said he never gets tired of telling his story, but knows that some around him might get sick of hearing about it. March 18, he will be able to prove that he is an exceptional fighter AND cancer survivor.
The Brooklyner was asked about that status as a cancer survicor. “I’m not really a religious guy, I’m a spiritual guy, my religion is love,” he noted. He now really gets it that the love is real, when he gets feedback from others touched by the evil C. It moves him and lifts him, he said.
Jacobs said that GGG must be respected. He won’t respect him that much. “Come March 18, there’s going to be a new kid in town. There’s going to be a changing of the throne,” said Jacobs.
The underdog Jacobs said he appreciates that he is highly regarded as a class pro. Real knows real, he says. “This is a gentleman’s sport,” and he likes that.
Jacobs talked about how Chris Algieri impressed him by beating Ruslan Provodnikov with one good eye. That “can only add inspiration,” and “he’s the best nutritionist I ever had,” the Brooklyner said of the Long Islander. Algieri shared, and said both were underdogs coming in. He said that his Ruslan camp and this Jacobs camp are similar, the vein of positivity running through. “We have no doubt about what’s going to happen,” he said.
Danny loved the turkey burger and didn’t love cod, but he came around to it, said Algieri, and it became a staple of taco Tuesday.
My take: The Jacobs confidence on display is real. Now, maybe GGG was not ON against Kell Brook, and was only B plus, and he might be “A” Saturday and a couple cracks could install in Jacobs the feeling other foes have felt after tasting the power…Time will tell, and Jacobs has said the same in the leadup. It's all on paper, in the realm of theory now…
