Gennady Golovkin's trainer Abel Sanchez had an interesting take on several of Golovkin's past opponents.
In a conference call promoting Golovkin's upcoming unified middleweight title defense against Vanes Martirosyan, Sanchez said he believes several of Golovkin's past opponents have not boxed as well as they previously had after facing Golovkin. Sanchez used Daniel Jacobs as a prime example, saying that in the two fights after losing to Golovkin, he has not looked as sharp as he once did.
“Daniel Jacobs was supposed to demolish Luis Arias and had a difficult time with him in his first fight after Gennady. Now, in this fight against [Maciej] Sulecki, he looks terrible. But the reason being, in my opinion, is that once you go 12 rounds with Golovkin, you’re never gonna be the same," Sanchez said.
Jacobs wasn't the only boxer Sanchez mentioned in the conference call whose skills are not as sharp as they once did. He mentioned the likes of David Lemieux, Martin Murray and Kell Brook, past opponents who have been knocked out or stopped by Golovkin, as other examples of fighters similar to Jacobs.
Jacobs became the mandatory challenger to Golovkin's WBA middleweight title on April 28 when he defeated Sulecki by unanimous decision in the main event of an HBO-televised card at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Jacobs previously lost to Golovkin on pay-per-view back in March 2017.
Golovkin will defend his WBA and WBC titles against Martirosyan on HBO on May 5 at the StubHub Center. Fightful will have live coverage of Golovkin vs. Martirosyan.
