Golovkin beats Jacobs and Canelo says Froch

By Boxing News - 01/15/2017 - Comments

Image: Golovkin beats Jacobs and Canelo says Froch

By Jeff Aranow: Former super middleweight champion Carl Froch is picking IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) to beat both WBA champion Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) in their fight on March 18, as well as Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KOs) later on in the year in September if the fight can get made. Froch likes Golovkin’s punching power as the main factor that will lead him to victory over Canelo and Jacobs.

Froch notes that Golovkin gets hit a lot in his fights, and he sees Canelo as having a chance of beating him if he can get to him early with one of his hard power shots.

Jacobs has good punching power of his own that Golovkin will need to worry about, but this is still a fight that should be won by Golovkin. Jacobs hits hard, but he hasn’t fought anyone solid like Golovkin since his fight against Dmitri Pirog seven years ago. Jacobs’ management has done a good job of looking out for him by matching him against guys that he has the power and the boxing skills to beat. There hasn’t been anyone put in with Jacobs for seven years with enough talent to give him trouble.

“Jacobs is a great fighter at middleweight,” said Froch to Fighthype.com. “I like him. I like what he does. He’s a proper test. It’s a great fight, and I think Golovkin will probably have too much for him. He’s a big puncher, Golovkin. He can box in the ring, and he’s very clever, Golovkin, and with that punching power as well. He’s a very dangerous fighter at middleweight,” said Froch.

The fight against Jacobs might end up being the toughest one of the year for Golovkin. Canelo Alvarez can be beaten with a simple jab, as we saw in his loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and in his questionable win over Erislandy Lara. Canelo’s main weapon is his left hook. He can’t land his right hand on a frequent basis from the outside due to him being so heavy and stocky. Canelo is built more like a wrestler than a fighter. If Golovkin chooses to jab Canelo from the outside, he should make the fight a very easy one. It might not be thrilling to watch for the boxing fans, but it’ll be an easy one.

When asked about his thoughts on the Golovkin vs. Saul Canelo Alvarez fight, Froch said, “This is potentially a great test for Golovkin. He doesn’t get many tests, does he, Golovkin. That’s a good test for Golovkin, but I don’t think Canelo is big enough. I know he [Canelo] gets in the ring very big. He puts a lot of weight on after the weigh-in. Still, he’s naturally a light middleweight. So I think because Golovkin is such a big puncher and such a big powerhouse and so solid at middleweight, I just think he’ll have too much for him. This could be a really hard fight. He may have got Golovkin at the right time. Golovkin is getting into his mid-30s. He gets hit with shots. Anybody that gets caught with that one fatal punch that takes the legs out from under him. If Alvarez hurts Golovkin with anything early, Golovkin could be in for a really hard fight. I think Golovkin will win this one,” said Froch.
When asked his thoughts on the Canelo vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight, Froch said, “I think Canelo has too much for Chavez Jr. I think Chavez Jr. is not active enough. He needs to be an athlete in this game in this boxing sport. I’m not impressed with Chavez Jr’s condition. I think he’s going to struggle against somebody like Canelo,” said Froch.

One of Golovkin’s sparring partners Julius Jackson, the son of former world champion Julian Jackson, said this to esnewsreporting.com about Golovkin:

“I sparred with heavyweights, and he hits harder than heavyweights,” said Jackson about Golovkin. “He hits harder than anyone I’ve ever worked with in my life. [He hits] like a horse. That’s how Gennady hits; like a horse throwing a back kick.”

Golovkin doesn’t look powerful from appearances, but he hits quite hard. Jacobs will do well if he can handle Golovkin’s power for s short period of time in the fight. If Jacobs tries to open up with his open power shots like he did against Sergio Mora and Peter Quillin, then this could put him in the line of fire of Golovkin’s big left hook and right hand. Quillin might not be able to take those big shots as well as Golovkin’s last opponent Kell Brook, who did a good job of taking many hart punches before he ultimately broke down in round 5 and had to be pulled out of the fight by his trainer.

When asked about the Golovkin vs. Jacobs fight, Jackson said, “It’s going to be a great fight. Jacobs is a force to be reckoned with. He’s a great boxer. I think he’s going to put up a great fight. He’s going to be Triple G’s toughest opponent to date. I give him 10 rounds, 9 or 10,” said Jackson about Jacobs.

Golovkin is hoping he can be busier in 2017 than he was in 2016, as he only fought two times in the year. Golovkin fought at least three times per year from 2013 to 2015. 2016 broke that streak, because his promoters at K2 got caught up in negotiations with Jacobs’ promoters, and it made impossible for him to fight in December like he’d planned on HBO Championship Boxing.

“Hopefully I fight three times this year. There are big plans for 2017,” Golovkin said to Fight News “I lost interest last year. There was too much talk last year Canelo, Golden Boy, Chavez, Froch, Sanders, it was crazy. Canelo is the future. Right now I am focused on Jacobs,” Golovkin said.

Golovkin will very likely get three fights in for this year, but it depends on the negotiations for the fight after the Canelo match if that takes place. Triple G wants to fight in December. He’ll need someone easy to negotiate with for him to get a December fight.