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Vinny’s Views: Gennady “GGG” Golovkin Wins a Close One Over Tough Danny “The Miracle Man” Jacobs

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GGGBy Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci (At Ringside)

Fight card is completed as Madison Square Garden is filled with kinetic energy awaiting the participants of main event. The vibes were inherently tangible last night with caustic anticipation as I liken the atmosphere to June 1983 when the great Roberto Duran electrified the audience with brutal assault lifting Davey Moore’s 154 pound belt, and the first bell hadn’t rung yet.

The boxing world is well aware that potentially this middleweight title unification has “fight of the year” written all over it as both combatants have earned their status quo and shall enter the lion’s cage like royalty. While the fabled MSG has hosted decades of great title fights and bared witnessed to historic events, current middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin has made several defenses here and considers it home. Brooklyn native WBA champion Daniel Jacobs has turned the sea of faces into a well divided bipartisan audience that conjures up images of the Roman Coliseum as the vocality of impatient cheers has risen through the rafters.

Danny “The Miracle Man” Jacobs enters ring wearing camouflage robe and WBA (regular) title sporting a record of 32-1, 29 KO’s and riding a 12 bout win streak by KO since returning to action after life threatening bout of osteosarcoma, a spinal bone cancer.

Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin enters ring wearing heavy Norse Robe adorned in blue and gold trim and prepares to defend his WBA, and WBC belts and 18th defense overall. The God of war who hails originally from Kazakhstan is 34 years old and stands 5’10 and a half inches with a 70 inch wing span. Daniel is four years younger, an inch and a half taller with a three inch reach advantage.

Of Special note: After both heroes weighed in comfortably yesterday morning beating out the 160 lbs. limit with ounces to spare, Jacobs today refused to even attend this morning’s weigh in. This ritual is to keep a perspective eye on the rehydration process the boxers are aligning their bodies to. “GGG” showed up with his physique still picturesque and cut. Daniel’s lack of public visibility sheds credence to the fact he is most likely a light heavyweight already and his team believes the extra weight will keep his body grounded when the hand grenades start to explode. That is a serious admission as to just how worried they are about facing Golovkin. Can their “X” factor of entering ring two weight divisions higher, possibly three backfire on team Jacobs. Will he be giving up his natural speed and will he tire from extra poundage should this bout see the later rounds?

The IBF has withdrawn its title’s recognition tonight because of Jacob’s failure to weigh in. The IBF is a step ahead of other alphabets and allows only a ten pound rehydration overnight. This sport’s fans is not only fair, but most practical and should be mandated throughout boxing. If, Danny does become “The Miracle Man tonight bucking 7/1 odds he loses, “GGG” still leaves New York with the IBF belt he lifted from David Lemieux.

First bell, Round one: Both men come out ultra-cautious putting my Hagler-Hearns theory to bed early. It’s so peculiar you can almost hear a pin drop. Gennady inches forward literally six inches at a time pawing with an uncharacteristic soft jab with eyes affixed on Daniel and walking him down. Occasionally he’d pump a harder jab but the entire round was based on posturing. With little fan- fare the round ends. While G hasn’t looked special or particularly interested in winning round, Danny has surrendered real estate and not thrown a punch in anger.

GGG’s round. 10/9

Round 2: A mirror image of round one. If you give these first two rounds to Daniel, your thinking is delusional.

GGG’s round. 10/9

Round 3. Boys are warming up but pattern and slow action continues. G has remained the aggressor as both champs have fired an occasional combination. With Danny using entire ring in back tracking it’s hard to give him this round either.

GGG’s round. 10/9

Round 4. In first minutes G pins Danny in a corner. He doubles up on right hand and drops Jacobs who gets the remainder of 8 count. G doesn’t look to go in for the kill and allows Jacobs off the hook.

GGG’s round. 10/8

Round 5. Danny comes back clear headed and determined to get back into fight. Fighting behind a steady jab he takes over control of fight. The tempo, rhythm and distance are now controlled by Jacobs.

Jacobs round. 10/9

Round 6. Jacobs confidence rising he is now throwing combinations as G stalks with little head movement and tentative about letting his hands go in the manner to which his fans have been accustomed.

Jacobs round. 10/9

Round 7. A mirror image of round six, but the boys go to war just before the bell.

Jacobs round. 10/9

Round 8. Danny continues to control tempo with movement. He fires combos with conviction but there is never a steady round of action filled with three minutes of fighting.

Jacobs round. 10/9

Round 9. With the bout much closer now than anyone could have imagined G is cutting off ring quicker and with a more purposeful jab. He continually throws the right hand but his connect percentage is off its normal mark. Danny has moments in rounds where he temporarily switched to southpaw while changing directions. Press row has mixed feelings about who is in control and who is winning the fight. I got a true sense that the rounds were so close that if you went into arena hoping a particular fighter would win, then chances are more than likely you were bending over backwards giving that round to him.

GGG’s round. 10/9

Round 10. The first half of round is once again curiously uneventful. Press row is buzzing why Golovkin is so patient to go to war or at least really attack Jacobs’s body. Time is running out and I’m getting the sense that if nothing else, Danny is about to break Golovkin knockout streak. Actually, that works both ways as Daniel was riding a 12 bout win streak all by KO. Danny comes alive at half way mark after connecting with a good shot. Impressing himself, he pounds his gloves together and roars as if to say, “I tagged you good, now what?”

Jacobs round. 10/9

Round 11. In a very close fight both champions need to dominate the championship rounds. G steps up the action. While Jacobs has moments in middle of round it’s sandwiched between the good work that Golovkin has done.

GGG’s round. 10/9

Round 12. Boys need to air it out as clock is waning. G has pushed to make the last round a fight, but Jacobs continues to box. G has retaken control of a very close match but is unable to close the show.

GGG’s round. 10/9

Ringside Report: Golovkin 115/Jacobs 113

The judges scored it a unanimous decision. 114-113 & 115-112 (twice)

While it wasn’t a stellar outing by “GGG”, he accomplished what he set out to do and take Jacobs’ title. Danny is return earned the boxing world’s respect but fought too spotty to win the rounds he was simply surviving.

The bout was entertaining as it unfolded for the drama we waited on baited breath for. It was neither a classic nor a bout you’d want to archive.

The Co-Main event featured Undefeated star Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez defending his WBC Super flyweight title against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. The Nicaraguan sensation has claimed many boxing analyst’s top spot on mythical pound for pound lists. Chocolatito earned his nick name from iconic legend Alexis Arguello who helped raise him as well as started him on his journey to greatness. The 5’3” 29 year old lightning bolt fights from orthodox stance and entered ring with perfect ledger of 44-0, 38 KO’s.

His 30 year old opponent who fights from southpaw stance and hails from Thailand is same height and entered ring with a very respectable ledger of 41-4-1, 38 KO’s. With only a half inch reach separating these two the Garden was guaranteed fistic mayhem. Gonzalez coming off a hard fought September victory over champion Carlos Cuadras by unanimous decision earned his fourth world title but many at ringside thought it was a draw.

In what was supposed to be an entertaining bout in which Gonzalez could re-establish his ring dominance he has found himself struggling a bit at this weight. In the first round, he got hit with a liver shot that deposited him sideways to the canvass. Chocolatito seemed more surprised than off balance. Round two and three the boys went to war and a clash of heads opened a small cut alongside Roman’s eye. This injury would be the bad omen for the rest of the bout. Srisaket Sor has well defined calves and when fighting flat footed has excellent anchoring against Gonzalez’s patented 4 and 5 punch heavy handed flurries, and would return the fire. As the rounds wore by, press row had Roman comfortably ahead in a very entertaining fan friendly war. The last five rounds the eye would bled freely and Gonzalez’s face was a mask of blood that took a mosaic of patterns across his shoulder and chest.

When the scores were announced for a majority decision for the challenger the Garden erupted in a chorus of boos. One judge voted it a draw at 113-113. It was over ruled by two judges who saw it 114-112 for Rungvisai. When interviewed in the ring by Max Kellerman the “boos” were so loud the conversation could not be heard over PA system.

While the rematch was on every one’s mind I was more concerned about what I just witnessed. I can’t find any writer who believes Roman truly won his last fight against Cuadras and now has just put his body through two grueling wars back to back. Was this bad decision karma and has all the years of fighting unknown taken a toll on Roman? The extra weight, albeit just a few pounds has taken a little spark off his game. I believe his corner should keep him out of action the better part of year and let his body heal as well as that cut that never could be controlled. Sor upped his record to 42-4-1, 38 KO’s while handing Chocolatito his first loss and sending him back home to Nicaragua with a 46-1, 38 KO’s ledger.

Ringside Report gave Rungvisai 4 rounds. No matter how hard he fought, it appeared Roman would dig in and give himself a gut check and constantly pushed his tormentor back on his heels.

The aforementioned Carlos Cuadras took on David Carmona in a ten round super flyweight bout. Cuadras won a hard fought unanimous decision upping his record to 36-1-1, 27 KO’S. Carmona dropped to 20-4-5, 8 KO’s.
Ringside Report scored it a draw five rounds a piece.

The most fascinating aspect of this bout has to be mentioned here and now. Cuadras’s back and shoulders look like he was hit with buck shot. The unfortunate fighter has acne so badly embedded over half his back that it has produced scar tissue. I am not accusing the fighter of “anything,” but the signs appear similar to classic steroid abuse. Out of sheer journalistic curiosity I’d love to get to the origin of his troublesome marks.

Ryan Martin, a good solid fighter to keep an eye on from Ohio upped his record to 18-0, 11 KO’s with a TKO stoppage of Bryant Cruz in 8 rounds of a scheduled 10 round lightweight bout. Martin is a stand up fighter with good work ethic who works behind a steady jab and puts his combinations together well and with conviction. If he can be taught to turn his power punches over a little better he looks to truly be a force to be reckoned with. Cruz is a scrappy fighter who fell to 17-2, 8 KO’s. He was simply outmanned tonight.

On the comeback trail after a two year lay-off former middleweight belt holder Andy lee shook off ring rust with a workmanlike performance over game KeAndrae Leatherwood. Lee had to settle for this 8 round bout as a prelim entry for the night. He last fought two years ago when he surrendered his belt to Billy Joe Saunders. At 6’2” and a 75” wingspan, Lee is always a fun southpaw to watch. He upped his record to 35-3-1, 24 KO’s. Leatherwood left building with a 19-4-1, 12 KO’s ledger. From here one wonders where Lee goes next. Another low key tune up or does he seek out a name opponent?

In a four round heavyweight bout Matt McKinney won a majority decision over Jay Carrigan-McFarlane, upping his novice record to 4-2-2, 1 KO. Jay took his first loss at 2-1, 2 KO’s.

The night opened with Serhii Bohackuk of the Ukraine winning a scheduled four round welterweight bout against Yasmani Pedrosa with a left hook TKO in third round upping his record to 3-0, 3 KO’s. Pedroso falls to 1-2, 1 KO.

The press conference was hosted late and became an abbreviated affair. Few questions were asked by press and little was made out of the night’s events. Gennady who upped his perfect record to 37-0, 33 KO’s said he would be willing, of course, to give Jacob’s a rematch somewhere down the line. Both he and his trainer Abel Sanchez said Danny was his best opponent and would wear a middleweight belt once again when Gennady vacates division. Golovkin was very gracious as always and praised Jacobs’s talent and ability.
Sanchez was asked if his fighter possibly has slipped a little with age. His response, “No, I believe G is getting better all the time, but so is his competition!”

He went on to say Gennady is looking for a July bout and a quick comeback in September. I asked him who was on their radar for July. His response, “Billy Joe Saunders!”

Shout out to former featherweight champ Kevin Kelly who entertained press with non-stop interviews. I used to follow Kevin, “The Flushing Flash” all the way back to the golden gloves when he and Bayside buddy Freddie Liberatore were gym rats together. I asked Kelly if he missed boxing. His responded, “No, when you’re done, you’re done.” He went on to explain in great detail the simplicity of the statement, but I like it as is.

Stay tuned..

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