Joe Goossen: Daniel Jacobs, Amir Khan have shots at spring upsets

Badlefthook.com

The Goossen family is knee-deep in the fight game, and has been for several decades. Trainer Joe Goossen works corners, always with a stellar shirt standing out, and of late, he’s been wearing another cap, that of analyst on the PBC on FOX shows.

On Saturday, Goossen, age 65, worked the Errol Spence-Mikey Garcia card, and I checked in with him to get a sense of how he viewed that super fight after getting some distance from the event. On the Everlast “Talkbox” podcast, Goossen told me he thought Spence would win, but that Mikey would be a bit more competitive.

He also said that in his view, a fighter the caliber of Mikey has final say on whether to continue, so he has no issue with brother/trainer Robert not pulling the plug.

We additionally chatted about some upcoming matches. What does Goossen think occurs in that April 20 Terence Crawford vs Amir Khan face-off?

“I worked with Amir Khan for a couple of fights, he’s really got some real power, when you hold the mitts and the body cushion for him, he’s one of the hardest hitting guys with the left hand,” he said, though his power is limited in the right hand, Joe pointed out, after having had issues going way back.

The left hook and liver shot will give him a chance but Crawford “is one of the premier guys out there,” said Goossen. “I don’t just discount Khan, out of hand, not at all. He could land that left hook and do some damage, but you gotta give Crawford the credit for being the overwhelming favorite, for good reason.”

And further down the line, May 4, Canelo Alvarez versus Daniel Jacobs.

“You can’t dismiss Jacobs out of hand here, he’s got a very good shot at upsetting Canelo in this fight. He’s a very talented guy. I see this as a very, very competitive fight. Jacobs will make you fight, which could be good, because Canelo’s always willing to fight. So I think it’s going to be a real action fight, with the possibility of Jacobs upsetting him.”

Good to know. Joe Goossen has been working corners since the 1970s, he started out with Randy Shields. The man knows what he sees, evaluates it properly and must be listened to and respected when giving his assessment.