WBA middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs has a tough task in front of him when he faces unified champion Gennady Golovkin on March 18 at Madison Square Garden.
Jacobs spoke to ESPN and said despite the challenge ahead of him, he knows he can come out victorious.
"Will there be some challenges? Of course," Jacobs said. "Will there be some hurdles I have to jump over? Of course. But that ain't nothing that I ain't been going through already. That ain't nothing that I don't know through and through. This is my life. My life has always been back against the wall, take that leap of faith, believe in yourself. And for the most part, that's how it's been. And I've always come out on top. We're enjoying this. This is just a good time for all of us. I'm just happy that the fight is made. Whatever it took, I'm grateful. But it's finally here. Now it's time to put up or shut up."
Jacobs isn't just talking about winning, he is preparing for Golovkin as best as possible. That includes training with three top Russian middleweights to try and best emulate fighting Golovkin.
Keith Connolly, who advises Avtandil Khurtsidze, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, and Ievgen Khytrov, as well as Jacobs, told RingTV.com these three boxers are there to prepare Jacobs for Golovkin's style.
“We think they can emulate Golovkin’s style better than anybody out there,” Connolly said. “They’re from the (former) Russian system and they’re all top middleweights. Besides Danny and GGG, I don’t think there’s anyone out there even in the Top 10 who can really compete with those guys. The fact that they’re from (the former) Russian amateur program, a lot of these guys have the same type of style and I think just psychologically, it will be good for Danny to be in with them.”
Aside from this being a WBA unification bout, Golovkin's WBC, IBF, and IBO middleweight titles will be on the line in the pay-per-view bout.
