Golovkin Passes Hardest Test But Not With Flying Colors

In a ring battle many predicted Gennady Golovkin (37-0-0, 33 KOs), the reigning and remarkably dominant undisputed world champion in the middleweight category, would easily triumph over Daniel Jacobs (32-2-0, 29 KOs) has turned out to be Gorlovkin's hardest test ever. Via very close unanimous decision, Golovkin barely managed to retain his titles in the recently-concluded middleweight showdown over the weekend.

That bout with Daniel Jacobs was Gennady Golovkin's 18^th defense of his WBA (super), IBO, and WBC world middleweight championships. In the previous 17 title defences, Golovkin, like a wayward train, would simply run over his challengers knocking all of them out in exceedingly dominant manner. Matter of fact, the Kazakhstani former silver Olympic medallist was aiming for his 24^th consecutive knockout victory coming to the fight against Jacobs last March 18 at the Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Golovkin's fight data had produced the prevailing belief months into the fight that, most possibly, Jacobs was going to succumb as well to his opponent's incredible punching power.  Jacobs, holder of the secondary WBA version of the middleweight championship belt prior to his defeat last Saturday, also possesses venomous power of his own but he had two appalling histories of trips to the canvas. One of which had resulted in a knockout defeat administered by a relatively unknown Russian foe in the person of Dmitry Pirog in 2010.

Hence, hardly any surprise, in the fourth round Gennady Golovkin, courtesy of a right to the head, deposited the New Yorker down the floor. But unlike of Golovkin's previous adversaries, Jacobs would easily recover and finished the count epochs already standing.  In the succeeding innings, Jacobs' hand speed and his occasional switch to southpaw stance brought him positive outcomes to the far extent that at the closure of the fight, people - experts and ordinary alike - have divided views on who the winner was.  A number of imminent observers went as far as to declare Jacobs did enough to deserve the nod of the judges.

Then again the official ring judges saw the fight differently, allowing Golovkin to return home with his world titles still in his bag via unanimous decision by the score of  115-112, 112-113 and 115-112.  At the post-fight interview, Golovkin was gracious to acknowledge the competence of his opponent who just put his 23 consecutive knockout run to a halt. He subsequently expressed his willingness to grant Jacobs a rematch, albeit, not in the immediate future.