Written by: Sean Crose
On a snowy day in the winter of 2017 I hopped into Metro North in Connecticut and headed down to Manhattan to cover the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs middleweight title fight. Defending champion Golovkin was at his peak at the time, going through one fight in a row while waiting to be knocked down by Canelo Alvarez. Indeed, it seemed that New York’s Jacobs was the closest fighter to Canelo’s level without being Canelo. It is doubtful, however, that anyone expected Jacobs to do what he did earlier in the evening. Because, after bouncing back from a knockdown earlier in the fight, Jacobs gave the feared Golovkin all the middleweight range could handle.
And while it’s true that Golovkin ended up winning the fight by decision after twelve rounds, I was surprised to find out that Jacobs actually won the fight on my scorecard. Admittedly, I was a minority that night among the media, but those I conveyed my personal points to nod their heads in understanding. Walking to Grand Central Station in the freezing cold around 3 AM the next morning (the war press conference took forever to get going), I had the feeling that I had witnessed some kind of big event – because I believed that Jacobs did – or should – really upset the apple cart. .
Here it is, the biggest promoter of Golovkin being forced to admit to me that no, the Kazakh fighter did not deserve to win that night. Not that it was hard to give Jacobs credit. The man was an image, and is an image of morality. In the Ryan Garcia era, Iraq vet Jacobs continues to show that a fighter can settle down while drawing attention to himself. Along with the fact that he is always seen as a good guy, it was and always will be hard not to be a fan of Daniel Jacobs.
Still, it’s been a long time since that very cold New York night. However now the 37-4 Jacobs returns to the ring this Saturday evening in Anaheim, California to fight Shane Mosely Jr. It will be Jacob’s first fight in two years. Now 37 years old, Jacobs will no doubt receive approval if he decides after this weekend to retire from the sport of fighting for good. However, he never got the credit he deserved. That evening in Manhattan we saw that. Maybe that’s the reason – or at least part of the reason – hunger still exists.
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