The HBO hype machine did to Daniel Jacobs on Saturday night what cancer couldn’t do.
Okay, that may be going too far…However, Jacobs did fight the fight of his life, won that fight, but left Madison Square Garden with a loss—losing eight of twelve rounds on two judges’ scorecards!
How absurd is it to realize that we’re finally learning how the consensus middleweight champ– nineteen fights into a world title reign and ranked by many as an all-time-great, right behind Marvin Hagler—would react if he met up with a live body in the ring? How much clearer can it be made that Gennady Golovkin has been handed an easy and utterly uncomplicated path to money and blind adulation? Up until his nineteenth world title bout, we had no idea just how he would handle someone who could use some smart movement in the ring. What does that say about the GGG career path and, maybe just as importantly, what does that say about the GGG business?
Admittedly, Golovkin has been marketed supremely well. He’s certainly a compelling figure and a gifted offensive fighter. He also entered the ring Saturday night as the legitimate middleweight champion of the world, despite boxing nerds’ hang-up on the silly concept of title “lineage” that still recognizes current non-middleweight Saul Alvarez as the “real” champ. But, again, absurd is the word if we want to accurately sum up honest analysis of the whole Golovkin-Jacobs affair and what it all really meant.
The Golovkinite apologists will talk about him slipping, suddenly…and that’s why he didn’t just blow Jacobs away with his testosterone-heavy manhood. But, really, how can they even make that claim when—and I repeat—we were seeing Golovkin in the ring for the first time EVER with someone who could move and opted not to serve his chin up on a silver platter? The first time ever—at 35 years of age, in his nineteenth world title fight. Anyone who told you that we knew what to expect from Golovkin in even a marginally complicated stylistic match-up would be lying. Where is the boxing purist’s self-righteous outrage about this?
A trip through the minefield of social media shows that not only are true-blue fawning Golovkinites not facing a crisis of self-awareness over the realization that they were swept up in a frenzy of well-executed he-man hyperbole, but they have a perfectly valid explanation for Triple G’s lack of awesomeness. He was faking it!
Yep, this writer kids you not. The theory is out there and thriving in some dark circles of the Universo Pugilistico. Gennady Golovkin faked looking human and vulnerable so he could lure that dastardly coward, “Canelo” Alvarez, into a fight.
Makes sense, right? How else do you explain that this infallible killing machine suddenly looked flawed and a bit befuddled? It couldn’t be that he’s not as utterly perfect as advertised. It couldn’t be that, maybe, facing one tailor-made opponent after another distorts perspective on how good a fighter looks. It couldn’t be that Golovkin has grown chronically complacent after years of simple match-ups. It couldn’t be that you got duped, just a little, and sold on an image that blinded you to reality. Nope. Excuses must be made. Buyer’s remorse rarely affects deeply enamored boxing fans.
Really, gifting Golovkin the decision over Jacobs was not at all a necessity. Golovkin was going to emerge a winner in the eyes of his true-believers no matter what. The engine for denial was already being revved up earlier during the day of the fight when Jacobs refused the IBF-mandated morning weigh-in. The Golovkinites were already searching for the asterisk on their keyboards, making claims that their guy would be facing a “cruiserweight” and that would totally explain it if Triple G didn’t just walk through Jacobs.
This piece isn’t being written just to mess with Golovkinites and their macho fixations—well, not entirely anyway. The bigger point is that this level of blind adulation—supported by media members who are either dumb or compromised—keeps the Golovkin mismatch train rolling. If it’s never his fault that he can’t get any challenging fights and if every possible negative in Triple G’s career is fluffed off as either a lie, a conspiracy, or a Golovkin ruse to lure in the cowards who refuse to face him, then the game goes on forever. With zero accountability comes zero pressure to change. At what point is it a restaurant’s fault for serving bad meals and at what point does it become the consumer’s fault for going back to the same awful restaurant over and over again?
What’s undeniable about the Golovkin business is that, up until the Jacobs bout, we’ve only seen him matched against opposition perfectly lined up to make him look good. And, because blind fan adulation has spurred on this sense of entitlement in Team Golovkin, the challenges he claims to seek will never come to pass because that would require him to make concessions in pay, in weight, and maybe in other areas as well.
One would be wise to trust nothing they hear in the boxing media. All we know is what’s leaked to the media by those with an active business interest in the Golovkin business. Look, instead, at the actual body of work and the product we’re receiving. That should tell you, as consumers, everything you need to know.
Aaron says
Absolutely disgusting racially driven article.
GGG won the fight clearly and cleanly.
Kid says
I don’ agree about the racial” part, buy I do agree that GGG won the fight clearly and cleanly,
Paul Magno says
Racially driven article? Okay, Mr. Fantastic…quite a stretch…
Kid says
Huh, What part of fighting a light heavyweight didn’t you get/ Jacobs flaunted the weigh-rules, came in ripped and heavy, and still got beat. All this fight told me is that GGG should remain a middleweight and not move up. As for Jacobs, he cheated period ker plunk!
Your move.
Paul Magno says
And Golovkin isn’t a light heavyweight by the time of the opening bell? Of course he is…no ker plunk…how did Jacobs cheat? The WBA, WBC, and IBO would verify that no rules were violated in their eyes…the commission concurs…no rules were violated with the IBF, either, since the bout was no longer for the IBF belt…and Golovkin clearly lost…double ker plunk!
Kid says
WTF/ Are you insane? The bout was no longer for the belt because he cheated and that rendered it a non-title fight.
The cheating was the trigger. And it was when he skipped on the 2nd weigh-in.
Paul Magno says
Jacobs chose not to honor an IBF policy…again, the WBA, WBC, IBO, and NYSAC had no issues whatsoever….
Kid says
“The Golovkinites were already searching for the asterisk on their keyboards, making claims that their guy would be facing a “cruiserweight” and that would totally explain it if Triple G didn’t just walk through Jacobs.’
And that’s exactly what happened. Jacobs flouted the rules.
Paul Magno says
so, the guy who aimed on speed and mobility is going to intentionally bog himself down in “so much” extra weight? Hulking up would make sense if Jacobs was a grinder and a grappler.. What little weight Jacobs may have had on Golovkin had zero impact on how well he would take a punch….What we saw on Saturday was two light heavyweights fighting for a middleweight title…Weight had ZERO impact on the fight….
Al says
As I seen the fight Jacobs was running and when he did hit Triple G he act as if he was hurting him, I’m not going to bad mouth anyone , but the results were true to the card. Fact
Paul Magno says
You may not quite understand what you’re watching…Fact.
Kid says
Well said Al
Rafael says
GGG won the fight with the jab, Jacobs was awesome but came short. That tell me how good GGG really is.