By Dan Ambrose: Former WBO light welterweight champion Chris Algieri says that Gennady “GGG” Golovkin lacks the athletic talent that he sees in Danny Jacobs, and he feels that he’s going to possibly beat the Kazakhstan fighter. Algieri is in Hayward, California to help Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) by working on his nutrition for the GGG fight.
Jacobs is working out of trainer Virgil Hunter’s gym in Hayward. Aligeri is impressed with what he’s seen of Jacobs during camp, as he sees him as a very big puncher with power in both hands. He’s mostly impressed with the 29-year-old Jacobs’ athletic ability and he sees that as being key when he faces the unbeaten Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) on March 18 in their fight on HBO pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Algieri doesn’t think it matters that Jacobs doesn’t have the same amateur background as Triple G has. Algieri notes that he doesn’t have an amateur background either, and he’s been able to have success against fighters that had a lot of experience in the amateur ranks. Algieri points out that Bernard Hopkins was able to have great success in the pro ranks beating many fighters that had massive amounts of amateur experience over him. Algieri doesn’t view amateur experience as a factor in deciding who will win a fight, especially the Golovkin vs. Jacobs fight next month.
“Golovkin is a fantastic fighter and a fantastic champion,” said Algieri. “I know that Danny is as well, but I’ve never been this close to see Danny training and understanding what kind of athlete he is. I think that’s his biggest asset, him being an athlete vs. Gennady, who is obviously a tremendous puncher and a great technician. But I don’t think he’s athletic the way that Danny is. Danny is a bigger guy and a more athletic guy. Danny has the speed advantage, and now to see how strong he is with both hands. It’s been an eye opener for me for sure. If Danny goes out there and does what he can, which is to box smart, and control the space in the ring, I think it’s going to be a good night for Team Jacobs,” said Algieri.
Jacobs is faster than Golovkin in the hand speed department. He also has very good athletic skills, and boxing ability. The only things that Jacobs has going against him is his lack of experience at the pro level and his punch resistance. Jacobs was fed a lot of weak opposition when he was with Golden Boy Promotions. He fought good fighter in Dmitri Pirog, and he lost to him by a 5th round knockout in 2010.
Jacobs has won all of his 12 fights since then, but he’s only fought one good fighter in Peter Quillin. Pirog and Sergio Mora both hurt Jacobs. Golovkin seems to have a better chin than Jacobs, and he has better punching power and a better inside game. Jacobs is at a distinct disadvantage in the Golovkin fight.
Algieri is obviously enamored with Jacobs, but he’s not a middleweight and he’s never worked out with Golovkin. Algieri has seen only one side and that’s the Jacobs side. If he were to train with Golovkin, it’s very likely that Algieri would come up with a different conclusion about who’s going to win the Golovkin-Jacobs fight on March 18.
When asked if Jacobs can beat Golovkin with his tremendous amateur background, Algieri said, “Why not? Look at a guy like Bernard Hopkins. How many guys has he out-boxed that had lengthy amateur backgrounds that he didn’t have. I’ve boxed a lot of guys with great amateur boxing backgrounds too, and I never had one amateur fight. The pros are a different league. With the grand stage kind of elevates me, and we’ve seen that with Danny in the [Peter] Quillin fight. That place was crazy that night, and Danny took that and used it. The atmosphere and pressure is going to bring the best out of Danny,” said Algieri.
Golovkin had over 300 fights in the amateur background in Kazakhstan and that is going to be a factor that will help him against Jacobs. It’s going to be interesting to see if Jacobs can make it out of the first three rounds, because he’s going to get hit hard by Golovkin.
I don’t think Golovkin is going to treat Jacobs with the same cautiousness that he did Curtis Stevens and David Lemieux. Jacobs doesn’t hit as hard as those guys with single shots. Jacobs need to put together a lot of shots for him to get an opponent out of there.
Golovkin may end up getting Jacobs out of there in one or two rounds. This fight could end very early.
In being asked about how hard Jacobs punches, Algieri said, “Hard with both hands. Both hands hit super hard. It’s a stunning heavy hard. Athletic is the best way I can put it. It’s fast, it’s explosive but it’s real. Everything lines up. He’s a good puncher,” said Algieri.