HBO PPV Preview: Golovkin vs. Jacobs, Chocolatito vs. Rungvisai
By: William Holmes
On Saturday night one of HBO’s biggest stars, Gennady Golovkin, will face off against one of the PBC’s biggest stars, Daniel Jacobs, in a WBA/WBC/IBF Middleweight Title Unification bout live on HBO Pay Per View.
This bout will take place at the legendary Madison Square Garden and will also feature a WBC Junior Bantamweight Title fight between Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
Photo Credit: Tom Hogan-Hoganphotos/K2 Promotions
The Golovkin vs. Jacobs fight is one of the biggest fights that could be made in the middleweight division and is pay per view worthy. The winner will put himself in good position to possibly face Golden Boy Promotions’ cash cow Canelo Alvarez in the fall.
The following is a preview of both world title bouts on the HBO PPV telecast on Saturday.
Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (46-0) vs. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (41-4-1); WBC Junior Bantamweight Title
Roman Gonzalez fought a close match with Carlos Cuadras the last time he stepped inside the ring and Cuadras fights on the undercard of Saturday’s PPV card. However, Gonzales has to get past Rungvisai before he can rematch Cuadras.
The undefeated Gonzalez has stopped thirty eight of his opponents and has never tasted defeated. Rungvisai has four losses but has stopped thirty eight of his opponents, including winning his past thirteen fights by stoppage.
Both boxers are roughly the same size at 5’3” and Gonzlaez has a very slight half an inch reach advantage. Rungvisai has been more active than Gonzalez and fought four times in 2016 and six times in 2015, while Gonzalez only fought twice in 2016 and three times in 2015.
Gonzalez won the light flyweight gold medal in the 2004 Central American Championships and turned pro at the age of 18. Rungvisai has no notable amateur background and a lot of his wins came against opponents with losing records.
Gonzalez is considered by many to be on e of the top pound for pound boxers in the world. He holds victories over Carlos Cuadras, Brian Viloria, Edgar Sosa, Akira Yaegashi, Juan Francisco Estrada, Omar Salado, and Rocky Fuentes.
Rungvisai has spent most of his career fighting in Asia, and three of his losses came in the first five fights in his career. His last loss was in 2014 to Carlos Cuadras. His other notable loss was to Akira Yaegashi. His notable victories pale in comparison to Gonzalez, but he has defeated the likes of Jose Salgado, Yota Sato, and Alvin Bais.
This isn’t a hard fight to pick the winner, and unless Rungvisai is able to use his power to stun Gonzalez in the early rounds it will be nearly impossible for him to win. If Gonzalez can survive the power shots of Brian Viloria, he can survive the power shots of Rungvisai.
Gennady Golovkin (36-0) vs. Daniel Jacobs (32-1); WBA/WBC/IBF Middleweight Title
This is the best fight that Golovkin could have made outside of Canelo Alvarez. Daniel Jacobs also represents the biggest challenge to Golovkin’s titles ever.
Both boxers are known to be knockout artists. Golovkin has stopped thirty three of his opponents and his past twenty three opponents failed to make it to the final round. Jacobs has stopped twenty nine of his opponents and has twelve straight stoppage wins.
Both boxers also have good amateur backgrounds. Golovkin won the Silver Medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics and Jacobs is a former Golden Gloves Champion, a US National Amateur Champion, and a US Olympic Trials Runner Up.
Jacobs lone loss was by TKO to Dmitry Pirog in a major upset at the time. He has defeated the likes of Sergio Mora, Peter Quillin, Caleb Truax, and Ishe Smith.
Golovkin has never been defeated and nobody has ever come close. He has defeated the likes of Kell Brook, Dominic Wade, David Lemieux, Willie Monroe Jr., Martin Murray, Marco Antonio Rubio, Daniel Geale, Curtis Stevens, Matthew Macklin, and Gabriel Rosado.
Two things should be pointed out about both boxers. Jacobs has only fought once since the beginning of 2016 and may be rusty. The other is that Golovkin is thirty four years old and will be turning thirty five in less than a month. Age may be catching up with him and he didn’t look like his usual dominant self when he last fought Kell Brook.
However, Jacobs lone loss was by stoppage to a boxer who isn’t known for his power like Golovkin is. Also, Jacobs is a good boxer, but his competition has been suspect at best. His best victory came against Peter Quillin, his other wins were against pedestrian and above average at best opponents.
This should be an exciting bout and is one of the best bouts to be put on pay per view in awhile, but it’s a fight that Golovkin should win.