GENNADY GOLOVKIN is remaining solely focused on what he feels is his biggest challenge – a fight against Daniel Jacobs next weekend at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The unbeaten Kazakh has proven himself No 1 at 160lbs while most consider Jacobs the second best in the world, making for an exciting match-up.
While ‘GGG’ is best know for his monstrous punching power, the Olympic silver medallist is also keen to point he has more strings to his bow.
“I feel great and training camp has been great. I’m ready to fight Danny Jacobs, he’s my biggest test,” he said.
“Of course I feel that I have power and it is very important to me and I can feel the power in my punches. I get that from hard work and practice.
“It is not just power. It has a lot to do with timing and distance. It is not all in the punch.”
In December 2015, Jacobs’ stock sky-rocketed when he blitzed former WBO ruler Peter Quillin inside one round.
A fast starter, he has not required the judges’ cards since 2009, though was stopped in five by Dmitry Pirog in 2010. Shortly after that loss he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer, but after extensive surgery and radiotherapy he made a full recovery.
Golovkin is aware of the threat he poses and feels Jacobs could even hold the edge in a department ‘GGG’ is usually considered a heavy favourite in.
“This is boxing. He is a very good fighter and maybe has a little bit more power than me. He has big power and he is a very good boxer,” he said.
“I am happy because I work hard every day for the last two months to three months. Right now is my last week and next week is the fight. Of course – this is my first fight of the year and he is a tough guy and a great fighter and I am very excited for this fight and this year.
“He is one of the most dangerous for me. He is very good in the ring. He is a good boxer with good technique. I respect him too, he is a very good man.
“Daniel was sick but right now he is a great boxer. I have watched a couple of his fights and he looks good. He looks strong and he looks very focused. I think he is the best that I have been up against in my career.”
Given that it is the biggest fight that can be made in boxing, Golovkin still has to address the topic of a potential clash with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez despite being just a few days away from his tussle with Jacobs.
“Right now I am focused on Daniel. I don’t know – my promoter, he talks with Golden Boy. It might be this year it might be next year, but right now my focus is on Daniel Jacobs, he is my next fight. Of course I would like to fight Canelo but we will talk about that later,” he said.
Though he is not a particularly big middleweight, there has been talk of Golovkin moving up in weight to pursue challenges there.
For now, he is happy at middleweight and revealed he only has a few pounds to shed before next week’s weigh-in.
He said: “I feel very comfortable at 160. Right now I am at 165 and next week I will be at 164 or 163. I don’t know about going up.”
