Jacobs has the power to hurt Golovkin says Quigley

BoxingNews24.com

By Jeff Aranow: Unbeaten middleweight contender Jason Quigley (12-0, 10 KOs) is predicting that IBF/IBO/WBA/WBC 160lb champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) will have a lot of problems in his fight next month against WBA ‘regular’ champion Daniel Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) on March 18 on HBO pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden in New York.

Quigley sees Jacobs’ punching power and boxing skills as being a problem for Golovkin, especially early on in the fight. Quigley, 25, still believes that Golovkin will eventually be too strong for Jacobs and will wear him down later in the fight, but it depends on how the early rounds play out.

With Jacobs, he’s hard to predict what he’ll do against Golovkin. All we know is that Jacobs has fought one really tough fighter during his career in Dmitri Pirog, and he was stopped by him in the 5th round in 2010. That was when Jacobs was younger and seemingly at his best. He’s had seven years of tune-up fights since then. He did beat Peter Quillin, albeit after Andy Lee did a number on him firs.

Lee wasn’t given the win over Quillin, but he clearly beat him.

“Daniel Jacobs will definitely give Golovkin some problems he’s never seen before because of his boxing skills and talent,” said Quigley to IFL TV. “If Daniel Jacobs has the power to sting Triple G, to hurt him, push him back, and make him think twice from always coming forward, Daniel Jacobs can win that fight. Personally, I think Golovkin will come on too strong later on in the fight and have a late stoppage,” said Quigley.

I have a feeling that Jacobs will last about as long as Marco Antonio Rubio and Dominic Wade. Jacobs has a chin problem, and I think he’ll be staggered by the first meaningful shot that Golovkin lands in this fight.

Once Jacobs is staggering, the fight will end quickly with Golovkin finishing him off with some big shots. I don’t see Golovkin giving Jacobs any respect in this fight. I think he’s going to come right at him almost immediately, because Jacobs doesn’t handle pressure well. He doesn’t fight well going backwards at all, which is why Pirog was able to beat him so easily.

Jacobs does much better when he’s the one coming forward against a tentative opponent like he did in his fight against Quillin. That fight was won for Jacobs after Quillin fought passively in the opening minute of the fight and was clipped by a right hand from Jacobs. Quillin was too hurt to survive the round, and he didn’t have the sense enough to grab Jacobs to try and clinch his way out of the round the way seasoned pros do.

When asked about the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight, Quigley said, “That’s another fight that depends on weight. If Chavez can come into the fight and make the weight comfortably and be strong in the fight, that’s going to be one hell of a fight. If he comes in weak and struggles to make the weight, it’s going to be Canelo all night long. But as I said, if Chavez Jr. disciplines himself and comes into the fight strong, comfortable and refuels back up in weight, that’s going to be one hell of a fight,” said Quigley.

Chavez Jr. looked very thin and emaciated in making the 168lb weight limit for his last fight on December 10 against Dominik Britsch. Chavez Jr. made the weight, but he was so thin that he looked sickly. Chavez Jr. up in weight and looked like a cruiserweight inside the ring.

I don’t think Chavez Jr. belongs at super middleweight any longer, and I’m not sure that he ever did. He’s more of a light heavyweight that melts down to 168, sometimes. Chavez Jr. has failed to make the 168lb weight limit three times in his last five fights.

For Canelo fight, Chavez Jr. is going to need to get down to a catch-weight of 164 ½ pounds, that that’s going to be very hard for him to do. Can Chavez Jr. make the weight? With the $1 million per pound weight penalty for the Canelo fight, I think Canelo will ultimately make the weight, but I don’t see him being strong after he rehydrates.

Golden Boy Promotions, the promoters for Canelo, obviously knows that Chavez Jr. will be weak at the weight, which is obviously why they insisted on the catch-weight of 164 ½ pounds. If they wanted Canelo to be involved in a more exciting and evenly matched fight, they would have allowed Chavez Jr. to weigh in at 168lbs. But instead, they want him to drain down to 164.5, and that’s obviously designed to weaken hi to give Canelo an advantage.

It’ll be funny if it backfires on Golden Boy with Chavez Jr. being quicker and stronger at this weight than he’s been since moving up to 168 or should I say 170, because his weight has been over 170 on three occasions for his weigh-ins since moving up to super middleweight. If Chavez Jr. is able to make the catch-weight for the Canelo fight and be strong after he rehydrates after the weigh-in, then Canelo could have a really tough time with him in their fight on May 6 on HBO PPV at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Chavez Jr. has the boxing skills and the pedigree to beat Canelo. The only thing that could keep him from getting the win is if he’s weak at the weight and too drained from making the 164.5lb catch-weight that Golden Boy is requiring for the fight. If Chavez is strong at the weight, then he might have too much for Canelo to deal with. Canelo had problems with the body punching from his last opponent Liam Smith, who rehydrated to 171 after making weight for the fight.

Chavez Jr. is expected to rehydrate into the mid-180s for the fight. Sadly, Chavez Jr. might not have the weight advantage over Canelo, who some boxing fans believe he’s rehydrating into the mid-180s at this point in his career. But it might not matter if Chavez Jr. doesn’t have the weight advantage. He’ll still easily be the heaviest fighter that Canelo has ever faced before in his career, and he’ll be the best body punch by far that he’ll have faced.

You can argue that Liam Smith was the best body puncher Canelo has fought during his career, and he had him pinned to the ropes through most of the fight. If Chavez Jr. can pin Canelo to the ropes, he’ll have a good chance of knocking him out. Chavez Jr. does well when he has his opponents trapped against the ropes trying to fight it out.

Canelo and Golden Boy will be trying to keep the fight in the center of the ring the entire fight, but that’s easier said than done. With the added weight that Canelo will be putting on for the fight, and the wear and tear from him getting hit with the heavy body shots from Chavez Jr., I think it’s quite possible that Canelo will find himself against the ropes during long stretches of his fight on May 6.

It should be interesting to see if Chavez Jr. is able to do damage to Canelo when he’s got him trapped against the ropes. Chavez Jr. isn’t going to waste a lot of time throwing punches to the head of Canelo. That’s the mistake that many of Canelo’s opponents make. Instead of them going after his wide body, they focus too much on trying to hit him to the head, and he’s able to avoid those shots and then counter.

Quigley will be fighting next month against Glen Tapia (23-3, 15 KOs) in a 10 round fight on March 23 at the fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. This is a step up of sorts for Quigley, whose bests wins thus far have come against Jorge Melendez and James De La Rosa. The 25-year-old Quigley is from Ireland, and is ranked #12 by the World Boxing Association. He’s a good fighter, but he’s not in the same league as Golovkin and Jacobs.