LOS ANGELES (June 5, 2017) The biggest fight in boxing today will come to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, Sept. 16 when two-division world champion Canelo Alvarez (49-1-1, 34 KOs) squares off against IBF/WBA/WBC Middleweight World Champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) over 12 rounds during Mexican Independence Day weekend. The event will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View.

“I am thrilled to return to T-Mobile Arena, and to give the fans the best fight that can be made in our sport today,” Canelo said. “I have repeatedly said that I fear no man, and I am now going to prove it by stepping into the ring against GGG. When the final bell rings, everyone will know that this is indeed the Canelo era, and that I am the best fighter in all of boxing.”

“This is the type of fight I have dreamed of since I became a professional boxer,”
Golovkin said. “This fight will be at a true championship level and we will give the fans an exciting fight.”

The fight, to be contested at a maximum of 160 pounds will feature two of the most explosive, heavy-handed fighters in any division in the sport today. In their combined 88 fights, 67 have ended before the final bell.

“For the best fight on the best date in boxing, there is no better venue than the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas,” said Oscar De La Hoya, Chairman and CEO of Golden Boy Promotions. “Fans won’t only be treated to a classic battle between the two best boxers in the sport, they will also be able to enjoy an incredible week of activities marking Mexican Independence Day. This will be a can’t-miss event for hardcore and casual fans, alike.”

“This is the result of many years of hard work for Gennady, travelling around the world fighting world champions and top contenders to become an undefeated unified middleweight world champion,” said Tom Loeffler of K2 Promotions. “Gennady’s reward, and the fans’ reward, will be battling in the biggest and best match-up in the sport of boxing. Gennady is ready for his date with destiny.”

“On September 16 there will be fireworks in Las Vegas when the biggest fight in boxing decides the middleweight championship of the world,” said Tony Walker, Vice President HBO Pay-Per-View. “We are thrilled to be producing and distributing this power-house event from the bright lights of Las Vegas.”

The last time Canelo stepped into the ring at T-Mobile Arena, he and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. drew the largest number of fans – more than 20,000 – to ever attend an indoor boxing event in Las Vegas.

Richard Sturm, President of Sports and Entertainment for MGM Resorts International, said, “There is no doubt this will be one of the biggest fights in boxing history. T-Mobile Arena has quickly become one of the leading venues to host championship boxing of this magnitude. We look forward to celebrating Mexican Independence Day Weekend in Las Vegas with our event partners and boxing fans worldwide.”

A press tour for the fight and on-sale ticket release will be announced in the coming days.

Canelo vs. Golovkin is a 12-round fight for the middleweight championship of the world presented by Golden Boy Promotions and GGG Promotions and sponsored by Tecate, BORN BOLD, Hennessy, Never Stop, Never Settle and O’Reilly Auto Parts. The event will take place on Saturday, Sept. 16 at T-Mobile Arena and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View.

For more information, visit www.goldenboypromotions.com and www.hbo.com/boxing; follow on Twitter @GoldenBoyBoxing, @canelo, @gggboxing, @OscarDeLaHoya, @hboboxing and @TomLoeffler1; become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/GoldenBoyBoxing, https://www.Facebook.com/gggboxing/and www.Facebook.com/HBOboxing; follow on Instagram @GoldenBoyBoxing, @canelo, @gggboxing, @HBOboxing and @OscarDeLaHoya; and follow the conversation using #CaneloGGG.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Then, there were two. Options for the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez fight appear to be Las Vegas or Dallas. Sounds simple enough. Just follow the money.

But that old formula might get a little complicated because of politics. Like so much else during this polarized era, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ bid to stage the Sept. 16 fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex., coincides with an increasingly contentious debate over immigration.

The day after the long-awaited fight was announced in the wake of Canelo’s beat-down of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at Vegas T-Mobile Arena on May 6, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed SB 4 into law in a ceremony on Facebook Live.

Media reports refer to the bill as a “sanctuary cities ban.” Increasingly, however, it is being compared to another law, Arizona’s SB 1070, the 2010 legislation that required police to stop, question and, if necessary, detain people of being in the country illegally.

It was condemned for encouraging racial profiling. It was called the “Show Me Your Papers Law.’’ The same label has been applied to the Texas version, which mandates criminal and civil penalties for a failure to enforce SB 4, which goes into effect on Sept. 1.

It’s hard to know how the mounting controversy might affect negotiations for the fight. But the SB 1070 precedent indicates it will. Anger at the Arizona legislation resulted in direct hit on boxing in the state, where the sport has a long history. When the Arizona legislature passed the bill, the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) reaction was immediate.

The Mexico City-based WBC, then under late President Jose Sulaiman’s leadership, immediately condemned SB 1070. There were headlines in websites and newspapers that the WBC would ban boxing in Arizona for a law it compared to apartheid. For a while, Mexican fighters continued to cross the border and fight in the state, mostly at small casinos on Native American land near Tucson. No ban could really be enforced.

But damning publicity did real damage. It scared Mexican advertisers and television networks. At the height of the Arizona controversy, they stayed away from Hall of Famer Michael Carbajal’s home state. Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bernard Hopkins, Salvador Sanchez, Julio Cesar Chavez, George Foreman and Sonny Liston fought in Arizona, but the ring lights went dark for a couple of years because of SB 1070.

A month after Arizona passed the bill, Top Rank moved a card featuring then Phoenix prospect Jose Benavidez Jr., a former 140-pound champion, from Chandler, Ariz., to Chicago because Tecate and Azteca TV didn’t want to do business in the state.

For the next several months, boxers, media and promoters condemned SB 1070. Canelo promoter De La Hoya, of Golden Boy Promotions, called it racism.

“When that Arizona law went into effect, they weren’t really thinking about ‘This is meant for the European immigrants or this is meant for the Asian immigrants,'” De La Hoya told 15 Rounds before a Juan Manuel Marquez victory over Juan Diaz on July 31, 2010 at Vegas’ Mandalay Bay. “You know? And so, to a certain extent, I call it racism. I really do.”

De La Hoya, whose parents also came to the U.S. from Mexico, said he couldn’t do business in Arizona unless the law’s controversial elements were repealed.

In the seven years since its passage, the law has been amended. Arizona’s political climate has changed. Controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County (Phoenix) was voted out of office in a landslide. Just this week, they began tearing down Arpaio’s notorious jail, Tent City.

Meanwhile, boxing has returned to the state. Golden Boy staged an ESPN-televised card in Tucson on May 18. It plans to promote another one at Casino Del Sol on July 29. Top Rank featured Oscar Valdez Jr. in Tucson in 2015 and has talked about bringing him back for a defense of his WBO featherweight title. Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian, went to school in Tucson.

Arizona’s dormant boxing market is beginning to get beyond SB 1070. But the controversy is still there, loud and clear and perhaps magnified by the state that seems to make everything bigger. Dallas, the city that calls itself the Metroplex, is a finalist to stage GGG-Canelo. In a video bid for the bout, Jones said: “The idea of Canelo and GGG fighting before 100,000 screaming Hispanic Mexican fans is exciting.’’

A fight just 15 days after SB 4 goes into effect, however, makes it problematic. There are bound to be calls for a boycott of Texas by Latino leaders. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) will meet in Dallas for three days next month, June 22-24. If the fight isn’t already on the agenda, it probably will be.

De La Hoya could make a statement and just decide to take his business to Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. But there might be a statement in bringing Canelo-GGG to Dallas, too.

De La Hoya has already addressed opposition to President Donald Trump’s plans for a border wall with advertising for Canelo-Chavez Jr. that included video of both fighters crashing through an imaginary wall.

GGG-Canelo is more than just a big fight. It’s a big platform. If a crowd of 100,000 shows up for the bout, AT&T would be a city in its own right for one night. Maybe, a sanctuary city.

ST. PETERSBURG, FLA. (May 24, 2017) – The International Boxing Federation (IBF) bestowed its highest honor, the Jersey Joe Walcott Award, representing the IBF Fighter of the Year, to pound for pound superstar and unified World Middleweight Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN this week during its 34th annual convention at the Hilton St. Petersburg Bayfront, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Jersey Joe Walcott Award is in recognition of the hard work Golovkin has put in to be the best in boxing inside and outside the ring.

“I am honored to receive this great award from the IBF,” said Golovkin. “I am proud to wear the IBF world championship belt and I plan to keep wearing it for a very long time.”

Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs), a native of Karaganda, Kazakhstan who now resides in Los Angles, has reigned as a world middleweight champion since 2010. He added the IBF title to his collection of unified titles in 2015, stopping defending IBF middleweight champion David Lemieux. Golovkin has successfully defended the IBF and his other world titles three times since the Lemieux victory. His biggest title defense will take place on Saturday, September 16, when he puts his four world championship belts and his middleweight supremacy on the line, going mano a mano with Mexican icon Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Alvarez vs. Golovkin will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View®.

By Norm Frauenheim-

Gennady Golovkin is landing endorsements at the rate he scores knockouts. Everything from the Apple Watch to Nike’s Jordan Brand is on a lengthening blue-chip list that says a lot more about his potential crossover appeal than a spot in any of the pound-for-pound rankings.

He is becoming an international brand. His familiar acronym identifies him, quickly and simply. But it could also say something about where he’s going. That’s GGG, Gennady Going Global.

His emergence has been marked by diligence, patience and some frustration. But now this son of a Kazakhstan coal miner is at the doorstep of his biggest moment on Sept. 16 fight against Canelo Alvarez.

He talked about it at Mandalay Bay, in a suite high above the runaways at Las Vegas McCarron Airport, to me and the Los Angeles Times Sunday on the morning after he joined Canelo in the ring to announce the bout in the wake – and we do mean wake – of Canelo’s blowout of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at T-Mobile Arena.

Golovkin looked out at the horizon. The view was unlimited, a little bit like what GGG could suddenly see in his own future.

“Wow,’’ he said. “This is my dream.’’

Boxing has a way of turning dreams into nightmares, of course. But Golovkin projects a quiet – call it understated – charisma that seems to say no moment is too big.

“This is boxing and business,’’ he said in a matter of fact tone.

The deal for the Canelo bout had been foremost on Golovkin’s mind for years. But there were always delays, loopholes, explanations and excuses. There were so many that GGG said, yeah, he was beginning to give up hope it would ever happen.

About 10 days ago, however, the deal was done.

“Finally — and I say that with an exclamation point,’’ said Tom Loeffler of K2, which promotes Golovkin.

The long, often exasperating trail to a deal might have been met with a couple of days of celebration in some corners. But not in Golovkin’s quiet corner. About 12 hours after the announcement, GGG was happy and impressed with Canelo’s dominance of Chavez Jr.

In a sport so known for trash talk, Golovkin is the polite kid next door. He’s 35 with the smile of a 10-year-old. The difference, of course, is that he can knock out just about any other kid in any other neighborhood in the world.

He spent much of last Sunday talking about Canelo and their similar styles, so alike that there is already talk about a rematch or two. It’s a little early to speculate on that. But it is an element, one of many, that makes the September bout so intriguing.

“I know his style, he knows my style,’’ Golovkin said. “I think he brings something new in September and I bring something new. It will be war. We both respect boxing.’’

There are already signs that the bout will do good business. According to media reports Thursday, HBO’s pay-per-view sales for Canelo-Chavez Jr. will do at least as well as Canelo’s victory over Miguel Cotto in November 2015. That one did 983,000 buys. HBO and Golden Boy Promotions are still counting. They are hopeful it hits the one million, a milestone.

Whatever the final tally, it’s a promising sign that GGG-Canelo will exceed one million and perhaps approach 1.5 million. Amid rampant theft of pay-per view telecasts and public exasperation with the PPV model, that’s big.

Expect a summer full of promises, rumors, changing odds and everything else that goes along with a hyperbolic sales pitch. Until then, however, Golovkin will be at home in Los Angeles, following his 8-year-old son in a youth hockey league.

He’ll begin training in July in Big Bear, the mountaintop camp east of Los Angeles. But, first, there’s a trip back to Kazakhstan in June for the 2017 World Expo in the city of Astana. He will be Kazakhstan’s spokesman.

“He’s become the most famous citizen of Kazakhstan, erasing the image of Borat,’’ Loeffler said in a reference to a 2006 film, a so-called mockumentary.

Borat was a laugher. But nobody is laughing much about Kazakhstan anymore, at least not since GGG became a well-known trademark and a feared fighter.

By Bart Barry-

Saturday in Las Vegas, in boxing’s must daring exploitation of Cinco De Mayo loyalties yet, Jalisco’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won every round, minute and second of his match with Sinaloa’s “Son of the Legend” Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. while clearing his throat for a scripted callout of Gennady “GGG” Golovkin, Canelo’s next opponent. Chavez, too, saved himself for postfight festivities, wherever they were.

What suspicions some Mexicans will harbor after Saturday’s postfight announcement, the postcharade charade – a $70 staredown, as it were – reduce to this statement: Chavez Jr. fought exactly like a guy who knew his opponent’s next contract was signed before the opening bell and got paid generously to participate in the promotion. Chavez, twitchy with embarrassment or concussion or the lingering effects of whatever copious stimulants he ingested to hollow himself for Friday’s weighin, stood in the ring after Saturday’s defeat and should’ve found it curious as the rest of us he was being interviewed first but appeared untroubled by it because, let’s be honest, as part of the promotion and broadcast he knew Canelo’d be calling out “Globekeen” and had a contractual need to don his sponsor’s headwear. Or did you think Chavez was otherwise hankering for a chance to explain the worst performance of his farcical career?

Some personal notes about that career, now that it’s unofficially through: Luck and geography put me ringside for a disproportionate number of Chavez matches while promoter Top Rank was inventing him, including Chavez’s dominations of Ireland’s John Duddy and “Irish” Andy Lee, and there was ever a wide chasm between the way Chavez expected to be treated in interviews and the way he prepared himself for fights. He was a haughty prick in his native language, un fresa, an unlikable combination of awkward and arrogant, ever casting impatient glares at his handlers to get things moving while he mixed cliches evasively and said absolutely nothing. You waste enough time on a subject, though, and some sense of selfpreservation or efficiency helps you begin to imagine admirable qualities, and when you can’t, you settle on redeeming qualities, and Chavez did have one in particular. He truly made others funnier.

Saturday I sat in a roomful of aficionados representing nearly every ethnicity on this green earth and each one was funnier in his expressions of disgust for Chavez than he was on any other subject. Sunday morning I scrolled through Twitter, too, and found myself manifesting an uncommonest form of mirth: Laughing aloud alone. This backhanded celebration of Chavez is not a gratuitous lunge at fulfilling wordcount, either; what I will miss about Chavez is a chance to write humorously about something in our beloved sport.

That almost never happens. Through his indifference to preparation and tacit acknowledgements a fortune was being made by charging persons for hoping to see him beaten to death Chavez gave writers a waiver of sorts to make fun of him in a playfully amoral way. Anyone who’s tried to do this with any other fighter has quickly found himself a target of moralists’ umbrage: “How dare you – he’s risking his life in there!” Which means what humor we’re allowed is either artless stock (“his chin is an insult to fine China everywhere”) or bitterly facetious: “I suppose if I were a recovering addict who wanted his legacy stolen out from under him and sold to a faceless charlatan, I probably couldn’t do better than hire Richard Schaefer, either.”

You could make fun of Son of the Legend while smiling, in other words, not scowling. I’ll miss that.

While we’re on the subject of selling talent, a quick thought about an occasionally overlooked detail of the Chavez legacy: How well he predicted PBC’s eye for talent. Recall that Al Haymon and friends got themselves sued by Top Rank three years ago when they poached Son of the Legend. As a Haymon-managed practitioner Junior went 2-2 (1 KO-by) in a disgraceful fourmatch march that fell somewhere between plain ingratitude and corporate sabotage. Bless Junior’s ungrateful heart for that.

And so we come to Canelo, the man Chavez now concedes is the best Mexican prizefighter of their generation, a selfmade marketeer, Jalisco horseman and entrepreneurial son of a Mexican icecream vendor, all that, and a redhead too. Canelo looked genuinely fantastic against Chavez but did not stop him. Or even hurt him. Which means there’s very little chance of his winning the 2017 Fight HBO Most Wants Seen. (As an aside, how richly absurd was that segue to Golovkin in the broadcast’s second match? Orbital bone, orbital bone, why, that reminds viewers of GGG’s September victory!)

Golovkin and Canelo are basically the same fighter, and Golovkin is bigger, and without squandering others’ chances at 100,000 words of handicapping, there’s no reason to think their match will be any more complicated than that. Fine, I take that back: Canelo is better defensively, and Golovkin hits harder, but Canelo hits pretty hard too, and Golovkin’s defense is actually underrated. There you go, peers, I left the last 99,980 words for y’all.

We end with a correction to a point above. There was one other fighter I’ve covered who was fun to make fun of as Junior, and he was another junior: Hector Camacho Jr. Difference being, Machito was a great storyteller and amusing conversationalist. But he did say to me one thing germane to Chavez’s situation today: “I’ve disrespected the sport of boxing so many times I’m surprised they let me put gloves on.”

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

Middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin will not fight in June, but instead see how the May 6 fight between Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. shakes out, according to Dan Rafael of espn.com

“Gennady is not going [to] fight in June,” Golovkin Promoter Tom Loeffler told ESPN during the Anthony Joshua-Wladimir Klitschko open workout at Wembley Arena on Tuesday. “It was a quick turnaround after the Jacobs fight, and we would have liked to have done a fight with Billy Joe Saunders, but it was just too quick of a turnaround. So we’ll see now, when Gennady is ready to fight, what the biggest opportunities are.”

“They still are anxious to have him. They want him to be there, and Gennady wanted to fight over there, but it would have been too quick of a turnaround,” Loeffler said. “It was 12 hard rounds [with Jacobs].”

“We’ll see what happens. If Chavez wins, we’d love to have a Chavez fight, also,” Loeffler said. “If Canelo wins, that would be the priority. I’m still in contact with Golden Boy. I speak to [Golden Boy president] Eric Gomez probably like twice a week. We’ll see what happens on May 6 and see if we can make a deal.”

According to Dan Rafael of espn.com, the March 18th fight between middleweight kingpin Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs did around 170,000 buys on Pay Per View.

“The projection we are now getting is in the 170,000 range, which we feel is a good improvement over GGG’s first pay-per-view show and many recent pay-per-views,” K2 Promotions Tom Loeffler said.

“Going against the NCAA tournament wasn’t easy, but that was the date that worked for Madison Square Garden and TV and it was a great boxing weekend in New York,” Loeffler said.

By Bart Barry-
— Photo Credit : Chris Farina – K2 Promotions
SAN ANTONIO – So goes a Sunday afternoon at Brown Coffee some miles north of downtown, across Broadway from The Pearl:

This is the sort of thing you do when there’s nothing interesting you in a sport about which you’ve found a way to write 1,000 words every Sunday for a dozenyear: You’re well away from writer’s block which handicaps you counterintuitively enough since you no longer worry what might come of your column if you approach it unprepared – gone years from sweating Saturday nights over the blank page – you come to the page blankly filled with enthusiasm at some capacity for improvisation then don’t improvise and don’t worry but do begin wondering when the alarm might sound. And sound it doesn’t because you’ve muted it – experience, presence, other numbing agents. There you sit bypassing the alarm right to indifference, certain the alarm will sound later and you’ll not end so uneventfully as apathy, then begin combing YouTube hoping something’ll spur you to begin wordstringing and it does, Golovkin-Jacobs on mute, having watched it as you did with a roomful of others live, the room comprising East Coast lads in the house of a Brooklynite Puerto Rican, a collection of guys crying Robbery at the screen when scorecards got read, you wonder if, as you suspected then, the room’s commentary offset HBO’s banter, interested as the Golovkin promoter HBO immodestly became a few years ago.

Instead a welladjusted and attractive woman, 19 years your junior, comes in the coffeeshop where y’all’ve conversed before and you offer a seat at your table and confess you’ve not an idea what this week’s column should treat, and since she knows it’s ostensibly about boxing she says:

“How about that new Ed Sheeran video?

“It’s bad, but he’s boxing. You could write your column about the way boxing is done in that video.”

And you playfully laugh and return to Golovkin-Jacobs, round 2, and get bored and do in fact watch the Ed Sheeran video, song muted, and the boxing isn’t bad at all. Sheeran, a southpaw, was on an episode of “Top Gear” you saw years ago and seemed humbly likable, and you find yourself cheering for him more in that video with the female pugilist than you cheered for either Golovkin or Jacobs eight days ago (though you made theatrical overtures to Jacobs’ chances to ensure you got invited back for Chavez-Canelo in a couple months) then the love interest disappears from Ed Sheeran’s video while the deus ex machina cranks rustily along and a sumo wrestler shows up bareassed, and it’s back to Golovkin-Jacobs a spell.

Golovkin has maybe a robot’s head movement so his defense is but punching power, though occasionally he picks-off a shot, keeping his redtaped black-n-white Grants up till an opponent strikes them; an ability to catch shots on his chintip and not buckle composes his defense mostly. Therein lies the reason Golovkin is not moved upwards in weight and will not be: Without chloroform on each knuckle he surely would not take with him to 168 pounds, Golovkin has little technique or tactical whatnots in his tricksbag – sorry, Abel! He would make an average super middleweight and way too much has been promised about him to afford any average happenings. Round 3 Jacobs lands his first lead shoulder of the match, a tool upon which he relies increasingly, but bless his heart it’s a fight, so why not (he writes, in large part because Jacobs’ shoulder slamming Golovkin’s jaw is not some Thai super flyweight’s head slamming Chocolatito’s head – and you can’t adjust for bias until you recognize bias).

And now a muscular and charismatic lesbian – who insists against all evidence she’s actually bisexual – comes in the coffeeshop and starts talking trash about your new haircut while the young attractive girl at your table recommends for your column a hypothetical effort on what might happen if you and she sparred, and you assure her the hypothetical is already welltrod in these columns.

Now Jacobs begins grimacing and flexing at Golovkin, and it’s not a good idea. Perhaps in the mirror or across from outmatched sparring partners what Jacobs elicits in his shows of rage is fear but in the ring with a man who punches hard as he does and absorbs better Jacobs’ glares and ripples make him look mentally fragile and a little too hopeful: He doth protest his toughness too much, wethinks.

It’s impossible to tell in realtime if Golovkin’s punches felled Jacobs in the fourth because HBO cameraswitches between Golovkin righthands, and it’s one more reminder how much presentation influences what we think we see when we watch a boxing broadcast. While Jacobs doesn’t appear particularly compromised by the knockdown or what blows caused it he does switch wisely out his southpaw stance when combat resumes. The knockdown on replay looks a touch tangled, and before anyone reports it’s not a tangle but Golovkin’s nuclear power, he’s advised to recall Jacobs withstood that power for 24 more minutes after the knockdown. And by the end of round 8 Jacobs is quite obviously the faster fighter even while the order of his punches doesn’t make much sense.

Now the charismatic, muscular lesbian joins our table and you introduce her to your attractive friend from a loving family and nothing chemical or dangerous happens but talk turns to loves lost, and it’s right depressing – so back to Golovkin-Jacobs and a finish you know won’t be suspenseful for anyone who knows its result.

In the ninth Golovkin actually ducks a punch and then eats a shoulder and then for some reason Jacobs begins clowning rough again while Golovkin breathes deeply round his gumshield. In the fabled championship rounds there appears to be little on either guy’s punches and even less on Jacobs’. Clearly exhausted Jacobs begins to throw floppy wrists like Steven Seagal running.

The decision’s a fair one for an honest scrap between two good middleweights. But let us have no more loose talk of greatness.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

NEW YORK CITY (March 23, 2017) This past Saturday night, March 18 at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, in front of a packed house of 19,939 boxing fans and millions watching worldwide, GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN improved to 37-0 with 33 knockouts with a superb performance in a 12-round unanimous decision victory (115-112, 115-112 and 114-113) over #1 ranked mandatory challenger DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS (32-2, 29 KO’s).

The victory, telecast in the United States on HBO Pay-Per-View, was Golovkin’s 18th consecutive middleweight world title defense.

“We’re very happy with the promotion, clearly boxing fans in attendance and those watching internationally were provided an outstanding evening of entertainment, a goal we strive for with each event,” said TOM LOEFFLER of K2 Promotions. “The main event saw the two best middleweights in a thrilling back-and-forth fight. Additionally, the co-feature between ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ, (46-1, 38 KO’s), and SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI, (42-4-1, 38 KO’s), was a very hotly contested battle throughout and is certain to be the leading candidate for ‘Fight of the Year’ lists.”

At the end of their 12-round epic clash, Sor Rungvisai was controversially declared the majority decison winner by scores of 114-112, 114-112 and 113-113. Said Loeffler, “I’m sure ‘Chocolatito’ will want a rematch to regain his title.”

Both memorable battles will be exclusively replayed this Saturday, March 25 on HBO Sports’ World Championship Boxing, at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT)

Continued Loeffler, “Our live gate on Saturday night was over $3.7 million, nearly doubling Gennady’s previous fight at Madison Square Garden against David Lemieux in October 2015. The international TV rights fees for the event to over 100 countries generated the highest revenue for any “GGG” fight.”

“Sponsorships also generated the highest revenue for any “GGG” fight, particularly with the addition of HUBLOT and CHIVAS, both of whom not only sponsored the fight but have designated Gennady as a brand ambassador which is a tremendous recognition for him.”

“Additionally, Gennady’s merchandise sales on Saturday of $150,000 also broke his previous Madison Square Garden boxing event record of $124,000 set at the Lemieux fight.”

“Finally our Pay-Per-View numbers are projected to well exceed those of Gennady’s first pay-pay-event, which were just over 153,000, with exact numbers still being calculated.”

By Bart Barry-

Saturday the Chocolatito Era concluded when Nicaraguan Roman Gonzalez got narrowly and perhaps unfairly split-decisioned by Thailand’s Wisaksil “Srisaket Sor Rungvisai” Wangek in a brutal 12-round affair. In the mainevent a different tradition of matching the world’s best middleweight against a fellow middleweight began, when Gennady “GGG” Golovkin decisioned Daniel Jacobs, and let us hope this new era endures fractionally long as the other one did.

Whosoever would be idiot enough to write something like this: “After the decade Chocolatito labored in obscurity it brings no joy to write a match of his does not belong on American television much less HBO PPV, but heavens to Murgatroyd, this one verily does not”?

Guilty, my friends, and decisively so.

Whether Sor Rungvisai deserved to become a champion Saturday he belonged in a ring with Chocolatito in a way no one before him has done and once there he made brutal combat – disrespectful, randyrough, unfair, despicable – till he was eligible for a title few gave him a chance at (even if no one publicly gave him less of a chance than this column’s agebadly effort).

It was inevitable: If a prizefighter moves upwards in weight as he moves upwards in age someday he gets beat by a man who is not good a prizefighter as he is but able to offset class with physicality by absorbing what punches smaller men cannot and damaging with less effort than smaller men can. Exactly that happened to Chocolatito, every bit Saturday his diminutive suffix -ito, who struck Sor Rungvisai with the same accurate shots he strikes everyone with and applied much of the same tactical originality he applies to every opponent’s head and body but the difference was Sor Rungvisai’s size and desire and apparent obliviousness of who was the man punching him. Whereas the mainevent saw a b-level middleweight will himself past an obvious consciousness about his opponent’s identity – and in so doing reveal quite a lot about the actual quality of the middleweight champion (and how about the postfight sparkle in Golovkin’s eyes when asked about a September return to a junior middleweight opponent!) – the comain saw a man who showed up for a world title fight against an anonymous smaller man and acted like it.

Wherever or however Sor Rungvisai hit Chocolatito in round 1 he dropped him true and it tolled Chocolatito’s psyche finding himself seated, a ref fingerflashing overhead. It portended still worse things for anyone who hoped to enjoy Chocolatito for more than another match or two, too: You don’t make a fight-of-the-year candidate with Sor Rungvisai and go on to enjoy a long pleasant stay in your new super flyweight division. Instead you cautiously win a wellpaying rematch then cash yourself out – making, as an aside, charismatic Carlos Cuadras Saturday’s biggest loser.

On a personal note the emotions went something like: Excitement (here we go) to surprise (Chocolatito’s on the blue mat) to shame (what did I write?) to sadness (Chocolatito looks so small) to elation (he’s spinning him gorgeously!) to indignation (that butt was intentional) to anger (he butted him again) to amusement (butting when in you’re in trouble is effective in its way, isn’t it?) to excitement (he’s spinning him again, yes!) to disappointment (the geometry’s wrong) to nervousness to sadness.

Whatever dudgeon happened in the moment and however much pain Chocolatito is in today and tomorrow and the rest of the week, fact remains Sor Rungvisai, as a large southpaw, sold accidental headbutts sufficiently to remain undisqualified while severely altering a championship match’s trajectory with his head. There was little if anything accidental about any but the first butt and it was apparent three ways: 1. The timing of the accidents, 2. Chocolatito’s evident disgust with the accidents, and 3. The asymmetry of their effect. When two fighters’ heads keep colliding whenever one fighter is hurt, and the other fighter is the only one buzzed and bleeding afresh after each collision, there’s no chance at the championship level anything accidental is happening.

There are ways to remedy these things and Chocolatito, who has gone below the belt plethoras of times in his career, did none of them, and one suspects he didn’t do them because he didn’t think them necessary. First time, shame on Sor Rungvisai; second time . . . expect Chocolatito to go low early and often in a rematch the Nicaraguan’ll take personally and more seriously than their first match – and expect the new champion to be looking refereewards in the rematch more than his challenger.

While the damage suffered in the comain was asymmetrical the card itself did conclude with a symmetric quality of sorts: Chocolatito nearing the end of a career marked by increasing weightclasses and challenges; GGG beginning what one hopes is a career of fighting men large enough to hurt him – and looking only a touch better than average in so doing. While ESPN scrambles to revise its bro-science feature on Golovkin’s otherworldly power (something about Daniel Jacobs’ episode with cancer making his chin exponents more resilient than it was before both cancer and Dmitry Pirog) and HBO manufactures demand enough for Canelo-GGG to put this uncomfortable Jacobs episode behind us all, aficionados can use what they saw Saturday to temper, once more, their opinions of undefeated records.

Bart Barry can be reached via Twitter @bartbarry

HBO Sports presents WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING®: GENNADY GOLOVKIN VS. DANIEL JACOBS AND ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO GONZALEZ VS. SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI, the exclusive replay of their highly anticipated world championship title fights, SATURDAY, MARCH 25 at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The HBO Sports team, which was ringside at New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 18, called all the action, which will be available in HDTV, closed-captioned for the hearing-impaired and presented in Spanish on HBO Latino.
Other HBO playdates: March 26 (10:30 a.m.) and 28 (11:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdate: March 26 (3:45 p.m.) and 27 (11:20 p.m.)
The two-fight combo will also be available on HBO NOW, HBO GO® and HBO On Demand®.
Among the sport’s top pound-for-pound performers, Golovkin put his undefeated mark, extraordinary ring record and collection of 160-pound world title belts on the line against hometown hero Daniel Jacobs of Brooklyn in a fight originally carried live on HBO Pay-Per-View®. The co-feature marked a super flyweight title bout between reigning champ and pound-for-pound ace Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and challenger Srisaket Sor Rungvisai of Thailand.

New York City (March 18, 2017) This morning, Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33 KO’s) weighed in at 169.6 at the IBF same day weigh-in ahead of tonight’s highly anticipated divisional showdown against WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger, DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Jacobs did not appear for the IBF same day weigh-in. Golovkin is the holder of the WBC, WBA, IBF and IBO Middleweight World Titles.

Stated LINDSEY TUCKER of the IBF, “Golovkin is defending his IBF title, however Jacobs cannot acquire the title with a victory because he did not participate in the required IBF same-day weigh-in.

Stated TOM LOEFFLER of K2 Promotions, “Gennady is very excited to defend all of his titles tonight at Madison Square Garden and live on HBO Pay-Per-View against Daniel Jacobs in this matchup of the two best middleweights in the world.”

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

_____________________________

Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World and World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Flyweight Champion ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ, (46-0-0, 38 KO’s), fighting out of Managua, Nicaragua, defends his title against Mandatory Challenger SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI (41-4-1, (38 KO’s) of Si Sa Ket, Thailand

Former World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Flyweight Champion CARLOS “PRINCIPE” CUADRAS, (35-1-1, 27 KO’s) of Mexico City, Mexico returns to battle against cross-town rival and Former World Title Challenger DAVID “SEVERO” CARMONA, (20-3-5, 8 KO’s), also of Mexico City, Mexico.

Top Lightweight Prospects, WBC Lightweight Continental Americas Champion, RYAN “BLUE CHIP” MARTIN, (17-0, 10 KO’s) of Cleveland, Ohio via Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Port Chester, New York’s BRYANT “PEE WEE” CRUZ, (17-1-0, 8 KO’s) will battle in a scheduled ten rounder.

GOLOVKIN vs. JACOBS is presented by K2 Promotions. Tickets priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com

SOCIAL MEDIA — #GGGJACOBS

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
@GGGBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Daniel Jacobs
@DanielJacobsTKO – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

HBO
@HBO, @HBOBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Madison Square Garden
@TheGarden – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Tom Loeffler (K2 Promotions)
@TomLoeffler1 — Twitter

By Norm Frauenheim-

It’s a many-sided fight, loaded with intrigue and potential for explosive surprises at just about every level. But will Gennady Golovkin-Danny Jacobs Saturday night sell?

It’s an HBO pay-per-view fight screaming for attention during the first week of the NCAA basketball tournament.

Although already perilously close to joining boxing at the sporting fringe from November through February, college basketball still comes off the edge and squarely into the spotlight for three weeks from mid March to early April.

It’s a spring rite, an annual fast break full of moms and pops with brackets in one hand and a few dollars to wager in the other. Office pools are everywhere and that means everybody is watching, especially during the first couple of rounds when big upsets are likely.

If you’ve ever been in Las Vegas for a fight during the first week of the NCCA tournament, you know what I’m talking about. The books are jammed. Lines stretch from the betting windows almost out on to The Strip with people wanting to bet on the next Cinderella. A very good fight might be at the casino’s arena that Saturday night. But nobody knows about it.

In America’s virtual village, Golovkin-Jacobs, at New York’s Madison Square Garden, is that fight. Looks to be good, could be great. Jacobs is a terrific story. He beat cancer and he’s been beating everybody in front of him ever since.

Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs) has been that force of nature, an unbeaten and unstoppable middleweight who hopes to pound out a legend the equal of any in a division with a rich history. His bout against Jacobs has been called a steppingstone to a bigger confrontation with Canelo Alvarez. Yet, Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs) is a challenge – perhaps GGG’s biggest ever as he approaches another birthday. He’ll be 35 on April 8.

If the fight had been in mid-February or mid-April, it would have had a better chance at a solid PPV number. In an era of declining expectations, solid would mean anything from, say, 250,000 to 300,000. GGG’s pay-per-view sample is too small to judge. He has fought on PPV only once, against David Lemieux in October, 2015 in an HBO telecast that did a reported 150,000.

With the Canelo showdown still on the horizon and the compelling Jacobs story as part of Saturday’s promotion, there’s more reason to watch. But it happens on a day with second-round NCAA tournament games on CBS, TNT and TBS scheduled from noon (ET) to 9:30 p.m. (ET) and all without a PPV price tag.

The day’s final tournament game is scheduled a half-hour after the start of the PPV telecast of a card that includes pound-for-pound king and junior-bantamweight Roman Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KOs) against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (41-4-1, 38 KOs).

It’s a good card. Maybe great. On a day full of basketball for free, however, is it worth $54.99 for the standard telecast, $64.99 for high-def? After wall-to-wall hoops, I’m guessing a lot of casual fans will just pass and wait for the replay.

That’s unfortunate, especially for the under-appreciated GGG, Jacobs and Gonzalez.

GGG, who sells out arenas, draws a solid audience in non-PPV bouts. His victory over Kell Brook in September drew 843,000 for a London bout that happened earlier in the day in the U.S. His April victory over Dominic Wade at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., posted a biggie, 1.34 million.

Let’s assume Golovkin does the expected and beats Jacobs. If the victory is spectacular, yet the PPV number isn’t, it creates a potential complication for him in negotiations with Canelo, whose May 6 bout with fellow Mexican Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. could be PPV blockbuster. Let’s assume Canelo does the expected and beats Chavez Jr., yet with a PPV number three to four times bigger than GGG’s number against Jacobs.

What should be a 50-50 fight, won’t be in terms of what Canelo says he’s worth. He’ll ask for the lion’s share of a 60-40 or 55-45 split. GGG, who has been the consensus champ at 160, wouldn’t be the first fighter to be insulted by that kind of proposal. He also wouldn’t be the first to walk away from the table, further delaying a fight the business desperately needs.

That begs a question: On a weekend dominated by attention on the NCAA tournament, why-oh-why is GGG-Jacobs on pay-per-view? That answer is a slam-dunk.

17
Gennady Golovkin: 159.6 lbs.
Daniel Jacobs: 159.8 lbs.

LONDON (March 17, 2017) – Pound-for-pound ace Gennady Golovkin knows he will be in his toughest fight to date when he takes on knockout king Danny Jacobs on Saturday night.

The Kazakh warrior faces cancer survivor and the hard-hitting Jacobs, who has stopped 29 of his 32 opponents, exclusively live on BoxNation this weekend from the iconic Madison Square Garden.

Despite being one of the world’s most formidable punchers and boxers around, with a record of 36 wins unbeaten, with 33 of those by knockout, 34-year-old WBC, WBA and IBF middleweight world champion Golovkin is refusing to overlook Jacobs.

“He is a very good fighter and maybe has a little bit more power than me. He has big power and he is a very good boxer,” said Golovkin.

“Of course I feel that I have power and it is very important to me and I can feel the power in my punches. I get that from hard work and practice.

”Sometimes though it is not just power. It has a lot to do with timing and distance. It is not all in the punch.

“This is my first fight of the year and he is a tough guy and a great fighter and I am very excited for this fight and this year.

“He is one of the most dangerous for me. He is very good in the ring. He is a good boxer with good technique. I respect him too, he is a very good man,” he said.

Golovkin’s trainer Abel Sanchez is also well aware that his man cannot go into the fight underestimating 30-year-old Jacobs, who has the ability to put any opponent in his weight class to sleep.

He is of the belief that this fight is more of a threat to the unified champion than a showdown with Mexican star Canelo Alvarez.

“I think that [he is a bigger threat than Canelo] he has got one punch power. There is the chance he will knock you out – he is a big dude,” said Sanchez.

“Canelo is more of a combination puncher but they are both very good fighters. Both Canelo and Jacobs have fights coming up and Canelo has the bigger guy on May 6 and we will be able to tell then who is the bigger and stronger guy,” he said.

Also tonight, exclusively live on BoxNation, will be the debut of Irish Olympic sensation Michael Conlan who starts his professional career at the ‘Mecca of Boxing’ – Madison Square Garden on St Patrick’s Day against Tim Ibarra.

Conlan will be walked to the ring by UFC superstar and fellow countryman Conor McGregor and is equally ambitious as the brash Dubliner as he looks to go down as the best Irish fighter of all time.

“My goal is to be the best Irish fighter of all time. Tim [Ibarra] and I both have to put bread on the table and we’ll be working hard to do that Friday night. I am going to have to knock him out,” said Conlan.

“Over 2,000 fans are flying in from Ireland to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and my pro debut. I never dreamed this would be happening to me, that it was even possible – headlining in my pro debut at the Mecca of Boxing.

“I am taking this whole experience in. I revel in it. It’s going to be electric when Conor McGregor carry’s the tricolor [flag] and walks me into the ring,” he said.

BoxNation will be the only place to watch all this action live this weekend with Conlan headlining a fantastic fight card tonight, before Golovkin takes on Jacobs on Saturday night, with the phenomenal Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez part of a stacked bill.

Golovkin v Jacobs & Conlan v Ibarra are exclusively live on BoxNation. Buy now at boxnation.com.

-Ends-
About BoxNation
BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated boxing channel. From £12* per month with no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.
Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Khan vs Canelo.
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New York City (March 16, 2017) On Wednesday afternoon at Madison Square Garden a press conference was held for the HBO Pay-Per-View undercard fighters featured on the highly anticipated divisional clash between Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33 KO’s) and WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger, DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) this Saturday, March 18 at the famed venue in New York City.

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ
“Thanks very much to everybody for coming to the press conference and thanks especially to God. I know it’s going to be a difficult fight but this is the best preparation I’ve had. I’m ready to put on a great performance.”

“Thanks very much to HBO, K2 Promotions, Teiken Promotions and my family.”

“Thank you all my fans for the support, I look forward to defending my title on Saturday night against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai here at Madison Square Garden and live on HBO Pay-Per-View.”

SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI
“I have to thank K2 Promotions, HBO and the WBC for this opportunity. This fight is for the history of Thailand and I’ve come here to win and I will get the victory for the people of Thailand.”

CARLOS CUADRAS
“I’m visiting New York City for the first time, I’m very happy to be here but it’s a little too cold for me.”

“I want to thank Tom Loeffler and K2 Promotions, Teiken Promotions and HBO and my promoters in Mexico.

“I hope Carmona is ready, I came very prepared. I hope Rungvisai is ready and I look forward to a rematch with Roman and I hope you win.”

“I am strong, I am fast and I am very, very handsome.”

DAVID SEVERO
“It’s great to be part of this card, it’s a great opportunity for me. I’m well prepared, I had an excellent training camp and once I hit the ring, I’m going to be ready to perform at my best.”

“I’m honored to be on the same card as a great champion like Gennady Golovkin.”

RYAN MARTIN
“It’s amazing to be here, amazing to be fighting at the Mecca of Boxing. I’d like to thank Tom Loeffler and K2 Promotions for this opportunity.”

“I want to thank Abel for opening up the doors for me at the Summit to train up there. Five weeks in Big Bear, six weeks in Cleveland. I’m definitely 100% prepared for Saturday night and ready to put on a show and showcase my skills on this platform.”

TOM LOEFFLER, Managing Director of K2 Promotions
“While the main event has gotten much of the interest so far, when you see the great fighters on the stage here today, it really shows how deep this card is with such a strong international interest from the media and fans.”

“There will be a lot fireworks in the arena on Saturday with the two best middleweights and all these other world class fighters. We’d really like to thank Madison Square Garden for their support of this event, Gennady Golovkin has really made the Garden his home.”

“Fighting at The Mecca of Boxing is really the dream of most fighters.”
_________________________________

Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World and World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Flyweight Champion ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ, (46-0-0, 38 KO’s), fighting out of Managua, Nicaragua, will defend his title against Mandatory Challenger SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI (41-4-1, (38 KO’s) of Si Sa Ket, Thailand

Former World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Flyweight Champion CARLOS “PRINCIPE” CUADRAS, (35-1-1, 27 KO’s) of Mexico City, Mexico returns to battle against cross-town rival and Former World Title Challenger DAVID “SEVERO” CARMONA, (20-3-5, 8 KO’s), also of Mexico City, Mexico.

Top Lightweight Prospects, WBC Lightweight Continental Americas Champion, RYAN “BLUE CHIP” MARTIN, (17-0, 10 KO’s) of Cleveland, Ohio via Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Port Chester, New York’s BRYANT “PEE WEE” CRUZ, (17-1-0, 8 KO’s) will battle in a scheduled ten rounder.

GOLOVKIN vs. JACOBS is presented by K2 Promotions. Tickets priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com

SOCIAL MEDIA — #GGGJACOBS

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
@GGGBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Daniel Jacobs
@DanielJacobsTKO – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

HBO
@HBO, @HBOBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Madison Square Garden
@TheGarden – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Tom Loeffler (K2 Promotions)
@TomLoeffler1 — Twitter

New York City (March 15, 2017) In front of huge turnout of media at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33 KO’s) and WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger, DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) along with teams held the Final Press Conference leading up to their highly anticipated divisional clash this Saturday, March 18 at the famed venue in New York City.

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN
“I’m very excited, everybody on my team is ready, just a couple days before another amazing drama show. I hope Daniel is ready, I hope he’s had his best training camp, I have a great deal of respect for his team.”

“Thanks to my team, thanks to my Coach Abel Sanchez, he opened my eyes for boxing, for new life. Thanks to HBO Pay-Per-View, this is the biggest chance for me and Daniel to show world class boxing.”

“Daniel said he’s come back home, I feel the same way, Madison Square Garden is like my second home, I love fighting here.”

“Thanks very much to my new sponsor Hublot and for their gift.”

DANIEL JACOBS
“Good to see everyone, glad to be back in NYC. Feeling a lot of love in my city, where it all started.”

“I was 15 years old when I first came to Madison Square Garden to watch the Golden Gloves, so to have an opportunity like this and fight at the Mecca of Boxing again for the biggest opportunity that I could possibly have—I feel very grateful.”

“Thanks to my family, my lovely lady Natalie, my son Nathaniel, my Mom, everyone who has just been in my corner.”

‘Thanks to my team, Andre Rozier and Chris Algieri, a pure joy to have him in camp, great nutritionist and great conversations. He really understands being at this level.”

“Also want to thank Virgil Hunter for allowing us to train at his facility in Oakland, a great place to have a camp. Also want to thank HBO for this opportunity, also to Showtime for the 60 Minutes piece they did which was stellar.”

“This is a great opportunity for me, I would never have thought five years ago through a whole bunch of craziness that I went through that I would be fighting for the unified middleweight championship.”

“I wouldn’t want to have it any other way, the biggest challenge on the biggest stage. I’m so focused, I’m so ready.”

“I have the utmost respect for Gennady and his team, we’re two ambassadors for the sport, and I’m honored to share the ring with him.”

ABEL SANCHEZ, Trainer of Golovkin
“Finally were five days away, looking forward to challenging that preparation that Danny had in Oakland. Andre and I both understand how serious this is, we had a great camp. I’d like to thank all of our sparring partners and Max Golovkin for his help in camp.”

“Most of all I’d like to thank Gennady for giving us this opportunity to nurture and show everyone the kind of fighter he is on Saturday night, the best middleweight in the world and probably one of the best middleweights ever.”

“I hope everyone comes out and witnesses a superstar in the making.”

ANDRE ROZIER, Trainer of Jacobs
“We had a fantastic camp in California, I can honestly say this was the best camp we’ve ever had.”

“Daniel worked hard, the team did a wonderful job. The entire team worked really hard.”

I’m never anxious about a fight but I’m excited for this one. We have some stiff competition, it’s all about what’s happening on Saturday, the two best middleweights in the world coming together to show you who is number 1. Needless to say Danny is #1”

TOM LOEFFLER, Managing Director of K2 Promotions
“We’re finally here, it’s finally fight week — seems like yesterday that we were here to announce this fight.”

“The two best middleweights in the world, fighting at Madison Square Garden, it’s truly a classic fight, one that the fans and media have very strongly have reacted to.”

“We kicked off fight week with both Michael and Danny along with Michael Buffer at the New York Stock Exchange this morning.”

“Thanks to Madison Square Garden, HBO, Keith Connolly and Al Haymon also Oleg Hermann on behalf of Gennady in putting this fight together.”

KEITH CONNOLLY, Team Jacobs
“Saturday night we’re going to settle who’s the best middleweight in the world. It’s going to be a tremendous fight, one of the biggest of the year and I know Danny is ready. He is laser focused after this camp in San Francisco. He’s never trained harder, never been more into the moment.”

“I expect Danny to come out on Saturday and shine, he has just as much power as Gennady.”

‘This is Danny’s coming out part, Danny’s ready and we hope Gennady is ready. Come Saturday night we don’t want any excuses that Gennady overlooked him or was thinking about another fight. Danny wants to beat the best Gennady and I think that’s going to happen on Saturday night.”

GOLOVKIN vs. JACOBS is presented by K2 Promotions. Tickets priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com

SOCIAL MEDIA — #GGGJACOBS

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
@GGGBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Daniel Jacobs
@DanielJacobsTKO – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

HBO
@HBO, @HBOBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Madison Square Garden
@TheGarden – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Tom Loeffler (K2 Promotions)
@TomLoeffler1 — Twitter

BERNIE BAHRMASEL: Good afternoon and Good Morning to the international press and thanks very much for joining us on this Media Conference Call promoting the highly anticipated World Middleweight Championship between Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33 KO’s) and WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “The Miracle Man” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) set for Saturday, March 18 from THE Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View starting at 9pm ET, 6pm PT. Tickets for the live event which are moving fast, may be purchased online through Ticketmaster and TheGarden.com

Joining us first on the call today is the Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter in the World from his training camp in Costa Rica, ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ. Sporting a record of 46-0 with 38 knockouts, Roman is joined on the call by his longtime manager CARLOS BLANDON to discuss his WBC Super Flyweight World Championship defense against Mandatory Challenger SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI, (41-4-1, 38 KO’s), in the co-main event on March 18th.

Later in the call, we will joined by former WBC Super Flyweight World Champion CARLOS “PRINCIPE” CUADRAS and his trainer RUDY HERNANDEZ who are wrapping up camp in Los Angeles, California.

In a special attraction 10-round super flyweight bout on the HBO Pay-Per-View, Cuadras will battle Mexico City cross-town arch rival DAVID “SEVERO” CARMONA.

This past September 10 at the Fabulous Forum and telecast, “Chocolatito”and Cuadras clashed in one of the best fights of 2016, as Roman Gonzalez won his fourth division world title.

TOM LOEFFLER: We couldn’t be more excited to have ‘Chocolatito’ back on the show with Gennady and it is a great match-up. On any other show it would clearly be the main event. ‘Chocolatito’ headlined the show last September at the Fabulous Forum and had a tremendous victory over Carlos Cuadras winning a world title in his fourth weight division and is universally considered the No. 1 pound for pound fighter in the world. We are excited for this match-up. It is a tough match-up that’s mandated by the WBC against Rungvisai from Thailand who is a very big puncher and I know many boxing fans are really looking forward to this fight. With that I would like to introduce Carlos Blandon to say a few words. He has been with Roman in training camp.

CARLOS BLANDON: I would like to thank everyone that is making this possible – HBO, Teiken Promotions and K2 Promotions and Madison Square Garden for hosting us once again on March 18. Roman and the whole ‘Chocolatito’ team is very excited and happy once again to be showcasing Roman’s talents at Madison Square Garden, The Mecca of Boxing, and we think it is going to be an excellent night of boxing on fight night. And thanks to Gennady, who we admire and we are very happy to be fighting under his name once again. At the same time having Carlos Cuadras with Rudy Hernandez being able to fight before us makes for a full program of action.

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: First of all I want to say that we are ready for next Saturday. I want to thank God and I want to thank HBO and K2 Promotions and Madison Square Garden. Everything has gone great during this camp and once again it is an honor to be on a card featuring Gennady Golovkin and Daniel Jacobs.

How was it to be a headliner on your last show?

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: It was a great opportunity in Los Angeles that HBO gave me to fight Carlos Cuadras in the feature fight. It was a great fight with an amazing atmosphere. The fans from Mexico and Nicaragua came out. I think it showed that I have the power that I can fill a big arena like the Forum. I was very happy and to be the co-feature with Golovkin is another great opportunity and I realize that there are going to be a lot of fans of Nicaraguan descent that will descend upon Madison Square Garden and I want to give them a very positive result.

How was it fighting at the heavier weight? You got touched up a little in the Cuadras fight. Do you feel you can dominate at the heavier weight?

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: I have always had respect for my opponent and it was a very tough fight at 115. Never did I think it was going to be easy campaigning in this division at 115 – it takes time to get used to and I think that’s what is happening at the moment but I think I will be fine.

What was the reception like when you returned home after not only winning another world title but passing the legend of Arguello by winning a fourth world title?

That day was very memorable when I returned home. People were lined up in the streets and they were greeting me all over and to be honest, being home, they gave me their love. The people of Nicaragua gave me their love and without question it makes me so happy to represent the country of Nicaragua, that now after winning this world title I have to hold onto it.

Do you feel a need move to move to higher weight divisions or do you feel you are fighting for the guys in the lower weight classes?

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: From a legacy standpoint I have already accomplished a lot and now my goal is to hold onto my fourth world title in order to gain higher purses and more money and I want to continue to show that I am a quality fighter and I am a great fighter and I want to move forward and I think a second fight with Cuadras will certainly do that. But I am fixed on holding on to this world title moving forward.

What do you want to accomplish next?

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: A fourth world title was something that was an absolute blessing. I want to thank God and it meant so much to me. No, aside from holding onto my world title, I could possibly go for a fifth world championship – in a different weight division – but first I understand that I need to hold onto to this title at the moment.

How many tickets are left for the fight at Madison Square Garden?

TOM LOEFFLER: The tickets are selling very well. The last show where Gennady and ‘Chocolatito’ had fought together at the Garden in October 2015, we were completely sold out and right now the tickets are ahead of that. So we expect a sold out arena and the fans have reacted to the combination again of Gennady and ‘Chocolatito’ on the same show.

How does this opponent compare to Cuadras and what type of challenges do you expect?

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: I always know it’s going to be a different rival and challenge. Against Carlos Cuadras it was a great fight and I certainly learned a lot in that match-up and especially in my training camp. On this one coming up on the 18th of March, I expect a great fight and I want to put on a great fight for the fans and I realize what I have to do because at the end of the day I want to have my had raised in victory.

Do you want to fight Cuadras again? How did that fight compare to the toughest you have had?

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: As I look at a fight coming up against Carlos Cuadras again I realize I have to train harder. Every opponent presents different challenges. I do believe that the second fight, the rematch, will be better. But heading into the rematch, assuming all goes according to plan, I will be confident and I know he will be a little bit more because of the time we shared in the ring. I do believe I can go out there and get the knockout in the rematch.

Do you feel better training in Costa Rica than in California?

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: Every camp is very good. Every camp runs very well when it comes to training in Costa Rica. I like it because I almost feel at home as if in Nicaragua. There are mountains here and water and I just feel so comfortable in Costa Rica.

You have a tough fight coming up on the 18th and Cuadras says that you didn’t want the rematch immediately…

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: It doesn’t really matter what he says. If he wants to go ahead and get into a verbal match with me, that’s not what I am going to focus on. I am the champion right now. I realize that the rematch is down the line. I have a lot of respect for him. I am fighting for the lower weight classes and a rematch will be in the cards if it does transpire. That will happen down the line and I am all about fighting for the lower weight classes to make them prominent in boxing.

This is a tough time in the United States for Hispanics and Latinos . . .

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: My fight is for the public. I am always very happy for the adulation. These days I want to move forward and make people happy by my performance.

ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ: Thank you very much to all of the public, God bless you and we will see you Saturday on March 18.

CARLOS BLANDON: We are so appreciative of everything and getting ready for March 18 – Roman is training his heart out. You are going to see a faster and stronger Roman and wee are putting everything in God’s hands. Thanks again to HBO Teiken and K2 and The Garden for making this possible.

__________________________________

RUDY HERNANDEZ: We are ready and we are just wishing the fight was tomorrow.

CARLOS CUADRAS: I am very well trained and I am excited for this fight. My goal is to come out and win against Carmona on March 18

When you fought Chocolatito, did you feel as if you were fighting for the smaller weight classes?

CARLOS CUADRAS: We are obviously fighting for higher purses and we are representing the lighter weight classes. We are going to give a show and demonstrate our high quality action. But we do realize when we fight inside that ring that we can provide action and put on a show as good as if not better than the higher weight classes and that will lead to more lucrative purses and higher paydays down the line.

Chocolatito has talked about fighting at 118. Would you accept a rematch at 118?

CARLOS CUADRAS: I will do it at whatever weight he wants to do it at. If he wants to fight and do the rematch at 118, no problem. We can even do the rematch in the heavyweight division. It will be a great fight. I am going to bring the fight to him. I have the medicine in my hands and the power to get after and to dispel of ‘Chocolatito’.

You always seem happy and smiling in such a brutal sport…

CARLOS CUADRAS: I love boxing and boxing is my life. If someone has a passion for something in anything that they do it shows and with me I love boxing. It is absolutely my life and I enjoy being in the gym competing against great fighters, partaking in the sport of boxing and it is something that I really love.

Do you think that helps lighten the pressure?

CARLOS CUADRAS: I enjoy the moment. I don’t let the pressure get to me. I don’t pay attention to that. I get to fight in these massive arenas. Every day when I step in the ring my focus is squarely on the opponent across from me. Thank you very much and say hello to all of those in Mexico!

Juan Francisco Estrada has called you out – so what do you think about him or ‘Chocolatito’?

CARLOS CUADRAS: Juan Francisco Estrada is a great fighter and it is almost a guarantee since we are both of Mexican descent that we will collide at some point down the line. But it is true that I want to fight Chocolatito in the rematch. That is what I want. He has the world title and that is what I want. But down the line we will have a match with Estrada.

What do you think about the Canelo-Chavez Jr. fight?

CARLOS CUADRAS: Julio Cesar Chavez should win the fight. He is bigger and he is stronger and if he comes in condition and ready to perform at the highest level I think he should get the victory.

How do the Mexican fans respond to you?

CARLOS CUADRAS: As to the response of the Mexican boxing fans they absolutely embrace me following my fight with Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez.

Do you feel that, since you did not get an immediate rematch, that it may not happen at all?

I do believe that he is running from me. He has fear of me. Look, if he wants to fight me at 118, no problem. I will go up to 118 pounds. Whatever weight he is, if he will give me the fight, I will be there and I will fight him in the rematch.

How much of a chance do you give Rungvisai against Chocolatito?

Rungvisai is a very strong opponent and hits hard. If Chocolatito allows him to have his distance, he could knock him out so he has to be wary. He is a very tough and dangerous opponent, as I can attest to.

RUDY HERNANDEZ: Carlos is looking to shine on March 18 and hopes to steal the show and hopes HBO gives him the opportunity to fight again.

CARLOS CUADRAS: I have watched Carmona fight. He is from Mexico City and we are fellow countrymen. I think he is a very tough fighter. I watched his last fight when he lost by unanimous decision. But I am going to go out there and I will be looking for the knockout.

TOM LOEFFLER: We are excited to have both Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez and Carlos Cuadras on the card. This is a tremendous show that we have put together. They had a war in September of last year and Carlos lost a close decision and we wanted to feature him because he was a crowd favorite. Now with Roman defending his title against the mandatory and GGG versus Jacobs we are very excited for next week.

____________________________________

Consensus #1 Pound-for-Pound Fighter and WBC Super Flyweight World Champion ROMAN “CHOCOLATITO” GONZALEZ, (46-0, 38 KO’s) will make the first defense of his fourth divisional world title against Thailand’s SRISAKET SOR RUNGVISAI, (41-4-1, 38 KO’s) on Saturday, March 18 at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden.

In a special attraction 10-round clash, former WBC Super Flyweight World Champion CARLOS “PRINCIPE” CUADRAS, (35-1-1, 27 KO’s) battles cross-town rival DAVID “SEVERO” CARMONA, (20-3-5, 8 KO’s) of Mexico City.

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

On September 10, 2016, Gonzalez and Cuadras battled in an epic “Fight of the Year” candidate at The Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles. After twelve outstandin rounds of action, Gonzalez was declared the victor. The fight was telecast live on HBO.

Headlining the HBO Pay-Per-View event from on Saturday, March 18, Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33 KO’s) will defend his titles (WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO) against WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) in a highly anticipated divisional showdown.

Golovkin and Jacobs have an extraordinary, combined 35 consecutive knockouts heading into this highly anticipated batt

GOLOVKIN vs. JACOBS is presented by K2 Promotions. Tickets priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com

SOCIAL MEDIA — #GGGJACOBS

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
@GGGBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Daniel Jacobs
@DanielJacobsTKO – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez
@ChocolatitoBox – Twitter
@ChocolatitoOfficial – Facebook
@Chocolatito87 – Instagram

Carlos Cuadras
@CuadrasOficial – Twitter
@CarlosCuadras – Facebook
@CuadrasOficial — Instagram

HBO
@HBO, @HBOBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Madison Square Garden
@TheGarden – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Tom Loeffler (K2 Promotions)
@TomLoeffler1 — Twitter

LONDON (10 March) – BoxNation will air some of the very best fighters around as part of a jam-packed schedule over the coming weeks which sees Gennady Golovkin v Daniel Jacobs, Canelo Alvarez v Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, a stacked April 8th show headlined by lightweight world champion Terry Flanagan facing Petr Petrov and much, much more.

From top to bottom the BoxNation calendar is filled with a host of edge-of-the-seat thrillers with the world’s finest boxers set to do battle starting tonight at 7pm as undefeated warrior Jamie Conlan faces former world title challenger Yader Cardoza for the vacant WBC International Silver super-flyweight championship at The Waterfront in Belfast.

This kick-starts even more great fights on the channel with knockout king David Lemieux going up against middleweight foe, and an equally impressive banger, Curtis Stevens this Saturday night from Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York.

This fight promises to produce all-action, with Canadian Lemieux and Brownsville boxer Stevens looking to rise back to the top of the 160-pound weight class.

Next week, on Friday March 17th, BoxNation will stay in New York as Irish Olympic sensation Michael Conlan makes his professional debut on St Patrick’s Day as he takes on Tim Ibarra from the iconic Madison Square Garden.

It will no doubt be a very special night for the Belfast super-bantamweight who will be looking to get his career off to the best of starts against 26-year-old Ibarra.

Then, the following night on Saturday March 18th, exclusively live once again from the ‘Mecca of Boxing’, Madison Square Garden, pound-for-pound star Golovkin will defend his WBC, WBA Super and IBF world titles against the gifted Jacobs.

The Kazakh fighter has captivated the boxing world, racking up a staggering 36-0 record, with 33 of those coming by way of knockout.

Despite being the sport’s most feared fighter Golovkin will have his hands full against 30-year-old Jacobs who has shown he too has dynamite in his fists with a record of 32 wins and just one loss, with 29 knockouts.

This mammoth clash will pit together two of the greatest middleweights in the world, with the victor rightfully able to call themselves the best fighter in 160-pound division.

The card on the night will also feature another pound-for-pound ace in the undefeated WBC super flyweight world champion Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez who meets the hard-hitting Wisaksil Wangek.

Gonzalez has a flawless 46-0 record, with 38 KOs, and is regarded by many as the best boxer on the planet.

Wangek will be looking to test him, and his 38 KOs in 41 wins shows he is no slouch and has real pop in his punches.

‘The Channel of Champions’ will be back on British soil on April 8th to air one of the best fight cards this year, headlined by lightweight world champion Flanagan as he defends his title from the Manchester Arena against Russian assassin Petrov.

The undefeated Flanagan will be looking to do the business in front of his home fans and prove why he is so highly-rated against the tricky and well-schooled Petrov.

There is nothing but top class fights on this card with former light-middleweight world champion Liam Smith facing the undefeated and rising Liam Williams in a showdown that could be a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender.

Smith, who has taken on the very best including Mexican star Canelo, will be eyeing another shot at a world title down the road but Welshman Williams has other ideas as he looks to derail those plans and throw his hat into the world title mix.

This bout will certainly be a clash not to be missed, with British Olympic hero Nicola Adams making her debut on a card that also sees South African Zolani Tete facing Arthur Villanueva in a final eliminator for the WBO world bantamweight belt.

Exciting heavyweight monster Daniel Dubois is another debutant on a great night of boxing from Manchester.

The month of May isn’t going to start so merry for one Mexican when Latin rivals Canelo and Chavez Jr clash in a megafight from Las Vegas.

Taking place from a sold-out T-Mobile Arena the long-time rivals will finally get to settle an old feud on May 6th with the flame-haired Canelo looking to prove why he is one of boxing’s elite fighters.

The 26-year-old is the biggest pay-per-view draw around but a rejuvenated Chavez Jr is looking to follow in the footsteps of his illustrious father and upset the odds in a must-watch matchup.

This is followed on May 20th when the supremely talented and Floyd Mayweather protégé Gervonta Davis struts his stuff for UK fans when he makes the first defence of his IBF super-featherweight world title against the unbeaten Liam Walsh.

Live from the Copper Box Arena in London, BoxNation will be the only place to see a clash which pits together two of the very best at 130-pounds.

The BoxNation calendar will no doubt have fight fans licking their lips, with back-to-back world class fights available for just £12 a month. Find out more at boxnation.com.

– ENDS –

About BoxNation
BoxNation, the Channel of Champions and proud partner of Rainham Steel, is the UK’s first dedicated boxing channel. From £12* per month with no minimum term customers can enjoy great value live and exclusive fights, classic fight footage, magazine shows and interviews with current and former fighters.
Previous highlights have included Haye vs Chisora, Mayweather vs Maidana, Saunders vs Eubank Jr and Khan vs Canelo.
The channel is available on Sky (Ch.437), Freeview (Ch.255), Virgin (Ch.546), TalkTalk (Ch.415), online at watch.boxnation.com and via apps (ios, Android, Amazon, Apple TV). BoxNation is also available in high definition on Sky (Ch. 490), at no extra cost to Sky TV subscribers, providing they are already HD enabled.
Available on selected internet-connected Freeview products only, subject to coverage. Visit freeview.co.uk/availability.
BoxNation is also available to commercial premises (inc. pubs, clubs and casino’s) in the UK and Ireland, for more information on a commercial subscription please call 0844 842 7700.
For more information visit www.boxnation.com
*Plus £8 registration fee for Sky TV customers

BERNIE BAHRMASEL: Good afternoon and Good Morning to the international media and thanks very much for joining us on this Media Conference Call promoting the highly anticipated World Middleweight Championship between Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33 KO’s) and WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “The Miracle Man” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) set for Saturday, March 18 from THE Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View starting at 9pm ET, 6pm PT. Tickets for the live event which are moving fast, may be purchased online through Ticketmaster and TheGarden.com

Since bursting onto the boxing scene in America in September 2012 on HBO, Gennady “GGG” Golovkin has become the most talked about and most exciting international boxing superstar in the sport.

In addition to his world titles and distinction as the Unified Middleweight World Champion, Gennady is also known as the sports’ ‘Peoples Champion’. In his last three fights, Gennady has sold over 55,000 tickets, drawing packed houses to three of boxing’s most iconic venues, The O2 Arena in London, England, The Fabulous Forum in Los Angeles, California and The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden where he will fight for the fifth time on Saturday, March 18th.

With a record of 36-0 with 33 knockouts, Gennady has stopped his last 23 opponents inside the distance over a period of 9.5 years.

Joining Gennady on the call today is his longtime trainer, the 2015 & 2016 Yahoo Sports Boxing Trainer of the Year, Abel Sanchez—both are joining us from Big Bear Lake, California.

Also joining us on the call is the architect of Gennady’s meteoric international rise in becoming one of boxing’s most marketable fighters, Tom Loeffler, the Managing Director of K2 Promotions.

A couple programming notes before we get started;

“24/7 Golovkin/Jacobs” is available on the HBO On Demand® service, HBO GO®, HBO NOW® and on HBO Boxing’s YouTube channel (www.YouTube.com/HBOBoxing)

“2 Days: Chocolatito Gonzalez premieres Saturday, March 11 at approximately 1:00 a.m. (ET/PT) or immediately following the Live HBO BOXING AFTER DARK card on HBO.

TOM LOEFFLER: We are really excited now as we head into the home stretch. Fight week is next week and all of the fighters are flying in over the weekend. The main event press conference will be Monday with Gennady, Danny and Michael Buffer ringing the bell that morning for the New York Stock Exchange. We are really excited about Golovkin vs. Danny Jacobs at Madison Square Garden – there was a tremendous response from the HBO 24/7 piece that aired last Saturday. Everyone is excited and anticipating the two best middleweights in the world along with the tremendous undercard we have headlined by ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez vs. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and Carlos Cuadras vs. David Carmona along with Ryan Martin vs. ‘Pee Wee’ Cruz. It’s going to be a full action packed show. Andy Lee is coming back to MSG on the undercard – he is a favorite with the Irish and New York City boxing fans.

ABEL SANCHEZ: Camp has been going great and I would like to thank all of the people for coming to the fight. We are looking to start the year off great with Gennady and hopefully fight three or four times in the year. We have had very good sparring – with David Benavidez and John Jackson. We have had no issues and hopefully everything goes good and we have a great fight on the March 18th.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: I feel great and training camp has been great. I’m ready for March 18th to fight Danny Jacobs, he’s my biggest test.

I’ve watched the video of Gennady hitting the pad you were holding. Can you describe the power of Gennady?

ABEL SANCHEZ: In forty years I have never had a fighter that hits as hard as Gennady but I am fortunate that he doesn’t hit me as hard as he can and as hard as he has hit someone in a fight. I have seen him hit someone 100% with protection on but I have never seen him hit someone 100% in a fight. He hits very hard and I feel it at night when I go to bed. My shoulder hurts but that is part of the job. On that particular video that you saw – it was taken in Santa Monica and I just had him hit the round pad and it was just a couple of rounds. It does hurt and I feel for the guys that catch it in the ring with small gloves and wraps – but that’s part of his business. It is fortunate that I have a guy that fights with dramatic endings and fights dramatic rounds and I am glad to be part of it.

You have a streak of 23 consecutive knockouts…at what point in your career did you realize that you have incredible power compared to the other guys in the ring?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Of course I feel that I have power and it is very important to me and I can feel the power in my punches. I get that from hard work and practice.

Do you feel you have better punching power than all of your opponents?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Yes, sometimes but it is not just power. It has a lot to do with timing and distance. It is not all in the punch.

Danny has him own streak going – he has 12 in a row. Do you feel a knockout is inevitable?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: I don’t know, this is boxing. He is a very good fighter and maybe has a little bit more power than me. He has big power and he is a very good boxer.

How happy are you to have an opponent that has a chance of beating you?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: I am happy because I work hard every day for the last two months to three months. Right now is my last week and next week is the fight. Of course – this is my first fight of the year and he is a tough guy and a great fighter and I am very excited for this fight and this year.

ABEL SANCHEZ: I think that all of these fighters like Kovalev and Andre and Gennady – they need a challenge. Not just a physical challenge but also a mental challenge and he presents that for us. He is the first guy in a while since maybe Lemieux and Stevens that got Gennady fired up. Not that he trains any harder because he trains hard for all of his fights, but mentally motivated to have a guy across from you that is going to be a great challenge that could outbox him and we’ll see what happens. He has good power, so does Gennady, and we’ll see who can impose their will on the other guy. That’s what makes these fighters fight at their best and the kinds of fights that people will remember for years.

What is your opinion of the strength of Daniel Jacobs’ chin?

ABEL SANCHEZ: When he fought Pirog and he went down he was probably thinking to himself ‘dammit I got caught’ and he was being held down. I didn’t think he was not able to continue. Every fighter in history, except for Gennady so far, every great fighter has gone down and gotten back up, gone down and gotten back up to fight. Now when he fought Quillin, he did to Quillin what people thought Quillin would do to us, it was very impressive. That’s not our plan – his chin or weakness is not what we are concerned with. We are concerned with his punching power and his ability to move and his ability to box. I don’t think that should be an issue for him.

Where do you expect Jacobs to rank among the fighters you have fought to this point?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: He is one of the most dangerous for me. He is very good in the ring. He is a good boxer with good technique. I respect him too, he is a very good man.

What lessons did you learn in the Kell Brook fight?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: The Kell Brook fight was a different fight. I remember the first round and I remember the last round. It was five rounds and it was a good five rounds and that’s it.

When you are asked about Canelo you seem to be more critical him him…

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Right now I am focused on Daniel. I don’t know – my promoter, he talks with Golden Boy. It might be this year it might be next year, but right now my focus is on Daniel Jacobs, he is my next fight. Of course I would like to fight Canelo but we will talk about that later.

There are reports you have a deal in place to fight June 10 in Kazakhstan against Billy Joe Saunders if he wins…

TOM LOEFFLER: There is no deal in place and everyone is focused on the Danny Jacobs fight on the 18th. However, it is my job, because it has been so difficult to get fights for Gennady to look forward and it has always been his goal to unify all the titles. If there is a possibility for Saunders in the future and he’s ready, we would want the fight, but right now were focused on March 18th. If everything goes right on the 18th for Gennady then we will see what the next highest profile fight will be and that is the one title (WBO) that has eluded him so far.

Is the plan to fight Saunders?

TOM LOEFFLER: As I said the plan is, if Gennady is successful on March 18, to fight the highest profile fight. We will see who is willing to get in the ring with him. A lot of people talk about fighting Gennady but very few people actually sign the contract. We know everything that happened last year with Canelo and Billy Joe Saunders with Chris Eubank and finally, Kell Brook was the one to step up and take the fight. We have a lot of respect for Kell Brook and we have a lot of respect for Danny Jacobs – he actually signed the contract to get in the ring and he was a mandatory challenger; Gennady also fulfills all of his mandatory obligations. This is the highest profile fight and the most dangerous fight Gennady has had. There is no way anyone could look past this fight but I am certainly in discussions with many different promoters to see who would actually be available and willing to fight him if he is victorious in March.

Is there anything new with Golden Boy regarding Canelo?

TOM LOEFFLER: Same situation – we are having discussions but there are two big ifs’ there. Gennady has got to win March 18 and Canelo has got to win May 6 and if those two things don’t happen there is no fight. If Golden Boy is ready and if Canelo is ready to make the deal then we would be open to it but it is my job to look forward. If Gennady is not successful next week then it doesn’t matter what plans I make or Abel or the Hermann brothers make – that all goes out the window. We have a lot of respect for Jacobs and he is the biggest challenge for Gennady. He has great hand speed and he is physically bigger than Gennady and will present a tremendous match-up.

Have you game-planned for Jacobs’ size?

ABEL SANCHEZ: Other than Kell moving up to middleweight, I think everyone that Gennady has fought has been bigger than him. He has learned to adapt to the bigger guys because that’s what he’s had to do his whole career. Danny’s size has not been my concern but his punching power has been my concern because he can crack so what we have in front of us at the beginning we have to be able to deal with it. We have some big guys in camp. David Benavidez is probably about 6’3” and John Jackson is about 6’ tall like Danny. We are trying to emulate what we will see on March 18. Until we get in the ring when Danny feels his power and Gennady feels Danny’s power we won’t know if size is going to make a difference.

It seems that Gennady at some point in the early parts of the fight– Gennady will take a punch to feel the other’s power. Is this something you would caution him about against Jacobs?

ABEL SANCHEZ: No, I don’t caution him to do anything. We have a game plan and we are going to follow the game plan. If it gets to a point where Gennady has no respect, that is something he feels in the ring himself and it has never been planned. But when he feels the punch that is not at the level where it may hurt him, he will do what he feels he needs to do not only to please his fans but also to make a fight of it. He wants to make a dramatic fight. He wants to make a fight where the other guy needs to come forward to make it a fight where he is not leery of his punching power but that is up to him.

How does being challenged mentally and physically translate into his training?

ABEL SANCHEZ: He trains the same, he is one of those guys I am fortunate to have in the gym because the other guys see him train hard for every fight whether it is Kell Brook or Lemieux or Curtis Stevens – we are going to prepare him for the best that he can be. The best that Golovkin can be and whoever is in there is going to have to deal with that. Nothing changes according to the opponent. We train to be the best that we can be and if that doesn’t work then we have more work to do.

What do you think about Danny and what he has overcome with cancer and what he has done for boxing?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Daniel was sick but right now he is a great boxer. I have watched a couple of his fights and he looks good. He looks strong and he looks very focused. I think he is the best that I have been up against in my career.

How is it that you can go into a fight and not have any personal feeling of anger or hate against an opponent? Why don’t you need that to get up for a fight?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: This is my job and that’s the way I look at it and that’s it.

What are your thoughts on coming back to the Garden to fight again?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: I am very happy and very excited about it. Madison Square Garden is my second home. It is a great atmosphere. It is the best place in the world for me. I am very excited for next week.

There was about 16,000 at Barclay’s the other night – is boxing on an upswing?

TOM LOEFFLER: I think when you have the right match-ups in boxing the fans respond. We are expecting – we sold out the last time with Lemieux but we are expecting a larger crowd this time because we added floor seats so there will be more people there than any other ‘GGG’ fight we have had at the Garden. It was a great night of boxing at Barclays – you’ve got the Wembley Stadium fight coming up at the end of April with Klitschko vs. Joshua with 90,000 tickets sold. When you have big fight match-ups the fans will respond and they are definitely responding right now to Gennady fighting Daniel Jacobs. The best two middleweights in the world fighting each other, both in their primes, both having over a 90% knockout ratio. You add Chocolatito and all of the other great boxers on the show, it is going to be a tremendous night and we expect a sold out Madison Square Garden next week.

Is defense more of a priority in this fight?

ABEL SANCHEZ: Defense is a priority from the first day I met Gennady. Defense is always a priority in our gym, but it is boxing and guys are going to get hit. If you look at the punch stats you would see that Gennady is one of the top 5 guys in the world of not getting hit compared to him hitting his opponent. For a boxer to land the types of shots he wants to land the way Golovkin fights, he is going to have to expose himself to put himself in a position where he could throw a punch. It’s always a concern and it’s always something we work on and it’s part of his game. If he was so defensive that he bored people to death, we wouldn’t be talking right now and we wouldn’t have him on this stage. He is the kind of fighter that by his choice and by the work that we do in the gym the type of fighter that the fans want to see.

It seems Gennady has been very quiet for this promotion…

ABEL SANCHEZ: We have a guy in front of us that Gennady respects 100%. A guy in front of us that poses a threat. He poses a chance of us losing a fight. We are trying to do as much as we can with Tom and Bernie to give as much accessibility as we can but there are times where I won’t allow it because we have a very difficult fight in front of us on the 18th. We are sorry if we haven’t been as accessible but we promise to put on a great night of boxing that night.

Gennady has always had the Garden crowd behind him but Jacobs is from Brooklyn – how much of the crowd do you think will be behind him?

TOM LOEFFLER: That’s a good question and a lot of people have asked me that. Gennady has sold out the Garden before and this will be his fifth time fighting there, but Danny being a native New Yorker from Brooklyn and having huge fan support as well, it will be an interesting dynamic on fight night. I still think because it is at The Garden you will see it leaning towards Gennady but you never know until the fans show up and certainly not the same as we had for the Lemieux where Gennady was clearly the hometown favorite. We are expecting a great atmosphere from both sides.

Did you ever discuss the moment that Gennady would get hit and go down and how you would handle that?

ABEL SANCHEZ: No, we have never discussed that because I don’t believe in discussing negative things in training camp and I believe that as a human you are going to do what your natural instincts tell you to do. If you are really hurt, you are going to stay down then get up. If you are halfway hurt then hopefully…he as always been told that if he knocks his opponent down he goes to the neutral corner and wait for instructions on what to do. Hopefully he would look at us and in the spur of the moment we will decide what we want to say to him and motion to him. But like I said every great fighter gets knocked down. I had a fighter Terry Norris back in the 80’s and he got knocked out in two rounds but this man is in the Hall of Fame. He had a great career even thought he had three or four losses. It’s part of the game and part of this business but I don’t discuss anything negative with my fighters at all, ever. Until it happens we don’t discuss it.

And for you Gennady has it ever crossed your mind?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: No, I have no idea. Really.

What kind of plan do you expect from Jacobs in the beginning of the fight?

ABEL SANCHEZ: I think that Danny will be aggressive and that’s what we are planning on. If not, then that’s okay but I think Danny will come out and try to draw a line and say you are not going to cross this. If he doesn’t I think he’s got very smart people around him, with the addition of Virgil I think they know they are going to have to get Gennady’s respect. But I think that’s going to make for a great fight. I think he will test the waters then use his skills. He’s got great legs and very good distance and the fact that he knocked Peter Quillin out shows that he’s got great power. Maybe the first round is a crazy round and I think 2, 3, 4, 5 are more tactical then the fight starts in the middle of the twelve rounds. I expect him to come out and see what Gennady’s got.

What do you think about the Lemieux-Stevens fight that is on Saturday night?

ABEL SANCHEZ: Other than Gennady, with everyone in the gym that has been a topic of conversation. I think it’s a 50/50 fight – I think that David’s got a little more power and Curtis is a very good boxer with one-punch knockout power. It’s either going to be one of those great fights that we are going to remember or it’s going to be boring fight because they have so much respect for each other. If one of the two guys lands a good shot I think it’s a war. They are going to bomb and someone is going to go out.

Do you see yourself moving up to 168?

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: I don’t know; I feel very comfortable at 160. Right now I am at 165 and next week I will be at 164 or 163. I don’t know about going up.

Is Jermall Charlo in Gennady’s future?

TOM LOEFFLER: Any of the top middleweights are in his future. It was nice to see Charlo move up to 160 and it adds another great fighter into the mix. If successful March 18th we will look at the best fights possible.

Mayweather over the weekend spoke of GGG’s deficiencies. Do you get frustrated that you can’t get a fight with him?

ABEL SANCHEZ: No we don’t get frustrated. It just shows me that he thinks more about Golovkin by talking about him and his deficiencies than talking about the mutt he wants to fight. I think Floyd having GGG’s name in his head is a thorn in his side that keeps him from being loved and will keep him from being loved as along as Golovkin is at the top of his game. If he is so flatfooted and if he is so beatable then he needs to call Tom Loeffler and sign a contract and make a date. We have three more dates that Tom wants to schedule this year.

Andre Rozier said Jacobs has one-punch power whereas Golovkin wears opponents down before stopping them…

ABEL SANCHEZ: I agree with him 100%. The difference is the quality of opposition. He has never faced a Golovkin so when he has somebody throwing back at him maybe it will be different. I agree with Andre. Jacobs has one punch power and has knocked out more guys in the second round but I don’t think the fighters that he has fought are on the level that Golovkin fought but we’ll see on March 18. But I am glad that Andre is talking that way and hopefully Danny is doing the same thing. Hopefully Danny comes to fight so we don’t have a bore fest like we had last week.

How has moving the fight from December to March helped the promotion?

TOM LOEFFLER: I would have liked to have had it in December but moving it to March fits better with the pay-per-view platform and also having Chocolatito on because he had just fought in September. It adds to the event as well as it being St. Patrick’s Day weekend – there is going to be a lot of people in New York City, plus you have the boxing writers’ dinner and Top Rank has Michael Conlan fighting on Friday and then the two best middleweights fighting on Saturday night.

Do you feel Jacobs is a bigger threat than Canelo?

ABEL SANCHEZ: I think that, as Andre has alluded to in the past, he has got one punch power. There is the chance he will knock you out – he is a big dude. Canelo is more of a combination puncher but they are both very good fighters. Both Canelo and Jacobs have fights coming up and Canelo has the bigger guy on May 6 and we will be able to tell then who is the bigger ands stronger guy.

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Every fighter is different. Of course Jacobs is a big guy and right now all of my focus is on him.

In Closing…

GENNADY GOLOVKIN: Thank you very much for your support and attention. I am really looking forward to putting on a great show and I am very excited.

ABEL SANCHEZ: Thanks everyone for joining us. We are at the point where we have done all the talking and its time to get in the ring and show why March 18 will be the beginning of a great year for us.

TOM LOEFFLER: Everything has been said and we are looking forward to the two best middleweights fighting. The doors open at 7:00 pm ET and it will be a full night of boxing with the pay per view beginning at 9:00 pm ET / 6:00 pm PT.

______________________________

Unified Middleweight World Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33
KO’s) defends his titles (WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO) against WBA Middleweight Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) in a divisional showdown on Saturday, March 18 at The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden.

Golovkin and Jacobs have an extraordinary, combined 35 consecutive knockouts heading into this highly anticipated battle.

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

The acclaimed HBO Sports feature series “2 Days” returns with an all-new edition on Saturday, March 11 at approximately 1:00 a.m. (ET/PT). “2 Days: ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez” will profile the consensus No. 1 fighter in the world as he prepared last September to challenge for a championship title in the super flyweight division.

The feature will also be available on HBO ON DEMAND®, HBO GO®, HBO NOW and affiliate portals.

GOLOVKIN vs. JACOBS is presented by K2 Promotions. Tickets priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com

SOCIAL MEDIA — #GGGJACOBS

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
@GGGBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Daniel Jacobs
@DanielJacobsTKO – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

HBO
@HBO, @HBOBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Madison Square Garden
@TheGarden – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Tom Loeffler (K2 Promotions)
@TomLoeffler1 — Twitter

March 3, 2017 – Leading up to the highly anticipated stacked world championship boxing card highlighted by the appearance of Gennady Golovkin, Danny Jacobs, “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Carlos Cuadras on Saturday, March 18 and presented live by HBO Pay-Per-View® – HBO Sports will present the exclusive replay of three hard-hitting all-action encounters that highlight the remarkable skill and power of these ring warriors.

On Friday, March 10 at 12:05 a.m. (ET/PT) and Saturday, March 11 at 10:50 a.m. (ET/PT), HBO2 will replay back-to-back Golovkin vs. Brook 2016, Jacobs vs. Smith 2009 and “Chocolatito” Gonzalez vs. Cuadras 2016. This past September at The O2 in London, Gennady Golovkin traveled to Kell Brook’s hometown and extended his consecutive knockout streak to 23 in a row with a fifth round stoppage against the then undefeated prize fighter. On August 22, 2009, top prospect Daniel Jacobs displayed incredible resilience and ring skills against Ishe Smith with a 10-round unanimous decision victory. Last September in a Fight-of-the-Year candidate, consensus #1 pound for pound fighter in the world, “Chocolatito” Gonzalez claimed a title in a fourth weight class against Carlos Cuadras in what was the toughest and roughest encounter of his career.

All three fights will also be available 24 hours a day on HBO NOW, HBO On Demand®, HBO GO® subscribers and affiliate portals beginning Monday, March 6.

Golovkin vs. Jacobs, “Chocolatito” Gonzalez vs. Rungvisai and Cuadras vs. Carmona takes place Saturday, March 18 from at the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/ 6:00 p.m. PT.

BERNIE BAHRMASEL/K2 PROMOTIONS: Welcome to the media and thanks very much for joining us on this International Media Conference Call promoting the highly anticipated World Middleweight Championship between Unified Middleweight Champion GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN (36-0, 33 KO’s), and WBA Middleweight Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “The Miracle Man” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s), set for Saturday, March 18 from The Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The Championship Event presented by K2 Promotions will be produced and distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View starting at 9pm ET, 6pm PT.

The HBO Sports special “24/7 Golovkin/Jacobs” will premiere Saturday, Mar. 4 at 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The special will provide all-new content including portraits of both fighters’ path to this significant showdown. The show will also be available on
HBO ON DEMAND®, HBO GO® and HBO NOW and affiliate portals.

Joining us on the call today from their training camp in Oakland, California will be Daniel Jacobs, his longtime trainer ANDRE ROZIER and his KEITH CONNOLLY, Daniel’s longtime manager.

KEITH CONNOLLY: I would like to welcome everybody today and I’m happy to see that everyone is taking great interest in the fight. The bottom line is that this is what boxing fans want – they are looking for two of the top guys in the division to fight each other. It’s rare in boxing that guys will do that in their prime and Danny and Gennady have both stepped up to the challenge. I think it’s the biggest fight of 2017 and Danny has done everything that everyone has asked of him in training camp and I know he is going to come out victorious.

ANDRE ROZIER: Good afternoon everyone. We have been working really hard and Danny has been an excellent Class A student in preparing for this much anticipated confrontation. We will be victorious. We will be sharp as razor blades. I am looking forward to Danny shining like a bright light that night.

DANIEL JACOBS: I am feeling a lot of anxiety at this point. Getting close to the fight – nerves are flaring up and I want to be able to go and tackle greatness. I want to go into Madison Square Garden and see my family and see my friends and see everybody there for me, and I’m really just waiting for that moment. I am ready for my fans to be in my corner for the opening round and everyone standing up and cheering and when that first bell rings – just going at it. It’s a big opportunity for me and I’m looking forward to it.

Are you going to be ‘that guy’ that is going to be able to give Gennady the biggest test of his career? And why?

DANIEL JACOBS: That’s the plan. We have 100% belief in our ability and the plan is to go in there and do whatever it takes to win. I know what I am capable of. I know what I’m good at. And it’s all about putting it in sync on fight night.

Considering what you have been through in your life, it seems like a victory over Gennady would be a cherry on top. What would a victory over Gennady mean to you?

DANIEL JACOBS: Simply put, it will be icing on the cake. It would be the pinnacle of this crazy life and career that I have – the ups and downs – going through all the things that I’ve been through. It would make everything sweet. It has been my goal to become undisputed champion and to be considered the best champion so this would definitely represent that.

Everybody talks about Gennady’s knockout power and he has knocked out 23 in a row. But after your only loss you have won all 12 of your fights in a row by knockout – 29 knockouts in 32 fights. Who do you think brings more firepower to the fight?

DANIEL JACOBS: Most people would say he has a lot more power but just because he has A+ or A- power and I have B+ or B- power doesn’t mean both guys can’t go down or both guys can’t get hurt. This is boxing and it’s all about putting your punches together perfectly. I have a different type of power. I have athletic power that people can’t see. That sharpness – the big bang that hits you. It’s a different type of power. If you ask whose is better – I like mine better obviously. It’s just a matter of going in there and putting it together because you can have all the power but can’t do anything with it.

Do you think it’s inevitable that this fight ends in a knockout?

DANIEL JACOBS: No, I don’t see that that is the only route. You have to understand that I am a boxer and we both come from boxing backgrounds. We do have a lot of knockouts as professionals. If adjustments need to be made it could go the distance. I’m not saying that my plan is to go in there and knock somebody out. This is boxing – you can’t really say what is going to happen because anything can happen in that square ring.

Your one loss was by knockout and you were knocked down against Mora. Do you think that because Golvokin has never been stopped that many think he will come out on top because of that?

DANIEL JACOBS: Yes, I can see how people would say that. I can see the controversy. I can see how people would say that given that fact that he’s never been down or never been hurt from what we’ve seen. It would be easy to say “if anyone would go Jacobs would go.” I could see how people would say that. But like I say this is a sport where you have to continuously prove yourself. So no matter what the past says, no matter what people say, it’s really up to me to go in there and do the job.

Do you think of your 12 in a row knockout streak or your one loss and what was the reason for that loss? What were the circumstances?

DANIEL JACOBS: If you go back to the fight you can see me clearly begging to the referee to get back when I got up. Yes I was hurt but not to the point where I would consider myself out. It was the first time I had ever seen a world championship fight where the referee pushes the fighter down and says ‘no you can’t get back up. You can’t continue,’ at the count of what – 4 or 5? I mean this is a world championship fight. I can argue that, which I get tired of, I can argue that until your ears pop off but at the end of the day I have the skills, I have matured, I have grown, and that’s what I’m really looking forward to. We can talk about specifics and we can talk about this or talk about that but at the end of the day it’s all about March 18. We don’t know what’s going to happen on March 18. I am highly, 100% confident in my ability in what I can do and causing what people will consider an upset.

Andre, what do you see, when you look at the videos, and what is your assessment of Gennady’s punching power?

ANDRE ROZIER: He has good punching power. I will not say that he has hellacious punching power. He doesn’t hit people with one shot then they go away. Most of his knockouts come through attrition where he constantly banging at you and wearing you down. He’s had a couple but Danny has had more first round knockouts than he has and Danny has hit a lot more people with one or two clean shots than Gennady has. If you look at Gennady’s last fight against Kell Brook, Kell was tripped up a bit in the first round but never went down but the attrition effort with Golovkin constantly applying pressure and breaking him down. A lot of people get caught up in the issue ‘OK the bottom line is did he win by knockout?’ Yes he did, but we knock people out and that’s going to be one of the amazing differences, when people see and they keep mentioning it constantly that Danny went down. Yes Danny went down but Danny is a lot smarter. In his fight against Kid Chocolate, he showed athleticism and incredible aggression, a little more than I wanted, he was a monster, and that’s what Danny can do. Danny can go from being up on his toes, flash and jab and quick combinations or he may come at you like a wild beast – bang and dig and scruff you out. He has many, many options. Gennady can punch but Danny can punch too. Gennady is rough and Danny can be rough too. Danny’s hands are a lot faster than his opponent. You are going to see some of the differences play out in this fight.

Has the talk of Golovkin fighting Canelo motivated you in camp?

DANIEL JACOBS: We don’t really talk about it. We maybe laugh about it but for anyone to make plans past this fight whether it is his team or whether it is him himself, honestly I just feel like his focus should be 100% on me. It doesn’t really add so much motivation but it just adds to it. I am self motivated and this fight is motivating in itself in what I can accomplish in fulfilling my dreams – that’s good enough for me but I think whether it is speculation or not, I just think it is foolish for one to do things like that – taking me for granted and I don’t think they want to get into that – planning before the fight happens.

He says he is not looking past you but do you believe that?

DANIEL JACOBS: I would say so but I haven’t been into the media too much lately – I have been focused on my training so I can’t really say I just think that, like I said before if I was to make a comment about it, it would be a foolish thing for anyone to do if it were against any fighter. The fighter that I am I am focused on the task at hand and the things that I have to do. I haven’t left any stones unturned and I believe it’s going to show up and you are going to see the best Danny Jacobs on March 18.

How has Chris Algieri helped?

DANIEL JACOBS: Having Chris around is really cool. There are many reasons but Chris understands too what it is to be at this level and kind of being a fighter and eating healthy and preparing meals and making sure that I am in the best mind frame and physical condition as well. The nutrition he has for me keeps me in the best possible condition. It takes a load off my mind that come fight night after the weigh-in, I’ll make weight easy, well not easy, but easier. I have been a middleweight my whole career and I will be fully 100% come fight night, he has been a really good addition to the team and I’m glad he is out here – I have known him for years. I think it is the best decision as far as adding a new person to the team.

Can you tell us about your experience being away from home living in the Bar Area?

DANIEL JACOBS: The Bay Area is awesome despite a little bit of rain. The area is amazing and the weather is nice, the air is fresh. I go out for a run and see all the mountains and see all the nature – it just adds to a good mental state. I love oysters too – they have really good oysters out here. Being out here with these top contenders and champions and the interest in having them know that they want me to win this fight and hoping I do good. I can genuinely feel that everybody is supporting me. I’ve had a great camp out here in the Bay Area and I look forward to doing it again.

Touching back on your loss to Pirog, didn’t you have a rough week?

DANIEL JACOBS: Yes, it was a trying time for me. My grandmother was like my mom growing up – she was that one. Fighting at that time was the toughest test of my career – fighting for a world championship and seeing my grandmother pass away. Having to fly out to the fight the next day then three days later. I just wasn’t really mature enough to take that on and kind of grieve the way a normal person is supposed to. It was a tough time. A lot of people can’t realize that I couldn’t be in a mental state – I couldn’t be Daniel Jacobs and be sharp. I was a young man – I was a kid you know? I had to fly back – straight from the fight I went to the airport to fly back to New York City so I could see my grandmother be laid to rest. It was a tough time but it definitely made me better – mentally it made me stronger and I’ve seen the growth and I’ve learned from it. I’m not saying I’m glad those things happened, but when tremendous things happen, it only makes you stronger and know who you really are when your back is against the wall.

There seems to be a lot of talk about your chin…

DANIEL JACOBS: For some reason I have given the people the false impression that I can’t take a punch. I have taken great shots. I have sparred with light heavyweights – I have sparred with all kinds of guys. I haven’t take shots, but have taken some good shots from some really strong guys but I know what’s inside me. With the Sergio Mora fight it was a mistake really. I was trying to swing widely at the time I guess. I had him hurt and I got caught at the perfect time. It was an off-balance type of shot. This illusion has been created to the public that Daniel Jacobs can’t take a shot, which is fine by me. If anyone wants to come test that inside the square ring that’s their job to do it. I am going to be fully prepared for a guy that you know can punch – I have to be aware of those things and I am going to have my defense tight. I am not going to come in carelessly and do things that I have probably done in the past. But that’s what I’m looking forward to. I don’t want to take a shot but if I do I will be able to take it more than previous fights.

Will you be comfortable boxing or will you feel a need to go in and fight?

DANIEL JACOBS: I think whatever it takes to win is what we are going to do. Floyd Mayweather always said that ‘great champions adjust’ and if we need to adjust at the moment I believe my team and I will talk in between rounds and try to make adjustments. I think I have the ability to do everything – go forwards, go backwards, and go sideways – put my punches together, put my jabs together and sit on my feet. I am equipped with a lot of different things and like I said before, just make sure everything is in sync on fight night.

ANDRE ROZIER: We prepare for a bunch of scenarios and it’s funny that you should mention the Andre Ward-Kovalev fight. Andre came in hot and he got knocked down, then he went back to boxing. Danny is a great boxer but Danny has an added secret weapon of that punching power. A lot of his knockouts come from punches that the guys just don’t see. We are going to do what we have to do to control the action. We are going to be controlling the action in the ring and utilizing physical attributes to win this fight any way it comes out. But as smart fighters and smart boxers do – use his mental capacity to control his physical attributes to win this fight.

You and Golovkin are probably the two most popular boxers in NYC – what will it do for you to win this fight in the Mecca of Boxing?

DANIEL JACOBS: I would just know I’m the best. I have always looked up to Derek Jeter. Jeter was the man in New York City. He was a great sportsman and athlete and everything he did was just gold. I’ve always thought that one day I am going to The King of New York. Walk around and people scream my name and I am going to be just like Derek Jeter. This will be my opportunity to be That Guy not only in New York City but in the world. I have an amazing story – a lot of people can relate to my story – my trials and tribulations and I’m just looking forward to being the best athlete that I can be and being a voice for the people and be a good role model – that is really my agenda. I don’t want to be in this game for too long but at the end of the day I just want to accomplish my goals and be the best person that I can be.

How does it make you feel having kids look up to you?

DANIEL JACOBS: It’s an amazing feeling. My grandmother always told me ‘make sure you represent yourself when you go out into the streets for not only you but for your family.’ That always kind of stuck in the back of my head. And I am a dad and when it’s all said and done my son can say ‘my dad was a great role model and I can follow after who he was and all the things that he instilled in me. This is really what I am doing this for, that I can be the best possible role model. It trickles down to a lot of kids or teams or even adults – just appreciate the way that I conduct myself, and the person that I represent and things of that nature. Even my foundation which a lot of people have shown interest in – seeing what I do with the kids with cancer, kids with obesity – it’s really an amazing feeling to be able to give back. It’s the greatest feeling that you can have.

Did you watch the Kell Brook fight? Brook was ahead during the fight – was there anything you could take away from it?

DANIEL JACOBS: That fight gave us a lot of things that we could go back and review for March 18 but there are a lot of other fights that I watch too and I study and like I said before we study his good habits and his bad habits so we can capitalize off our strengths. I’m excited because I really feel like this is the right time, to not expose, but to go in there and do what we know we can do – to go in there and be the best and beat the best. We are extremely excited to have this opportunity on March 18. It’s going to be a really interesting day and I am excited for it.

Do you think you need to box him early and break him down over time?

DANIEL JACOBS: I don’t know what the key is to beating Golovkin because I haven’t stepped in the ring with him yet. It’s about making adjustments and know what to do inside that square ring once you get in it. I could think about what I want to do all day then get in there and it will be a different story on fight night. Champions make sure they make adjustments and make sure they go in there and execute the game plan. We have seen two sides of Golovkin. The one where he fought David Lemieux where he kind of on his back foot and used his jab a lot more and the normal Golovkin where he comes forward and smothers and hit guys with body shots. We don’t know which one we are going to get come fight night but we are going to be ready for whichever comes.

I saw the eye training you were doing on Instagram yesterday…

DANIEL JACOBS: It wasn’t the first time we have done something like that. We do a lot of types of mental training and putting the body through stresses. That was a harsh one yesterday. During this training camp we have added a lot of new things to it and exciting things so we can all stay mentally on top and mentally have that edge. Those things you saw in the video will help us when under pressure you can still have control of your mind and your body.

What has Virgil added to this camp for you?

DANIEL JACOBS: Virgil has opened his gym up to us but it is inevitable not to pick up certain things from other guys like Andre Ward being in the gym, Berto and Amir Khan, Peter Quillin and all of these different guys that are world class. It’s kind of hard not to have it affect your energy level and pick up one or two things that you may see from these guys – that was one of the main reason we wanted to come out here – to pick up off that vibe. Just have one or two guys that are world class, it’s OK but there are a lot of distractions in New York but we can have that same energy, if not more, coming out to the west coast.

ANDRE ROZIER: Actually Virgil and I have been family for a long time – he’s my big bruh – and we came out here with the mind frame to get Danny in a good state of being. Andre Ward, who I call my nephew, is an inspiration to a lot of fighters, with character and escapability, but the ambiance in the gym is fantastic. It has enough championship material, – past, present and future – in that area to give you that good vibe. When you are training and everyone else is vibing off of you – it has a great air to it. We talk about the little things that tweak him that tweaks me – it’s been pretty cool. We came here to do what we need to do and what we’ve always done that’s indicated from Danny’s record. Danny’s a great champion and Danny knows how to fight and this was just a mood-setting situation. Virgil opened the doors to the gym, it was good to see him again and it’s been a great time.

How is sparring and the sparring partners?

DANIEL JACOBS: Sparring is going amazing actually. We have some really good sparring partners that manipulate Golovkin’s style. Individually we have one guy that comes forward and applies nothing but pressure, hard punches and great body shots. We have another guys that has that good Russian European style, and we have another guy who is a mixture of both. I am really happy with the sparring that we’ve got and it’s going to be one of those things that on March 18 we are going to shock the world.

In closing…

ANDRE ROZIER: On March 18 we are coming back home to the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, where Daniel “The Miracle Man” Jacobs with ascend to his throne as the Undisputed, almost, Champion of the Middleweight Division. We will be shining, and look out because you may miss the chance of seeing greatness if you are not at the Garden or watching it on HBO Pay-Per-View.

DANIEL JACOBS: Thanks you everyone for the tremendous amount of support. I am extremely grateful. This is the biggest opportunity of my career. I am looking forward to capitalizing and making history. Thank you to everyone who supported me I can’t really stress that enough – the fans who really make this possible. The fans are the ones who support. The fans are the ones that buy the pay per views. The fans are the ones who really make this thing come about. So I want to say thank you, thank you thank you and look forward to seeing everyone on March 18.

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Unified Middleweight World Champion, GENNADY “GGG” GOLOVKIN, (36-0, 33 KO’s), will defend his titles (WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO) in a highly anticipated divisional showdown against WBA Middleweight World Champion and Mandatory Challenger DANIEL “THE MIRACLE MAN” JACOBS, (32-1, 29 KO’s) on Saturday, Mar. 18 at “The Mecca of Boxing”, Madison Square Garden.

Golovkin and Jacobs have an extraordinary, combined 35 consecutive knockouts heading into this highly anticipated battle.

The HBO Sports special “24/7 Golovkin/Jacobs” will premiere Saturday, Mar. 4 at 10:30 p.m. (ET/PT). The special will provide all-new content including portraits of both fighters’ path to this significant showdown. The show will also be available on HBO ON DEMAND®, HBO GO® and HBO NOW and affiliate portals.

GOLOVKIN vs. JACOBS is presented by K2 Promotions. Tickets priced at $1000, $600, $400, $300, $200 and $100, are now on sale and can be purchased at the Madison Square Garden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster charge by phone (866-858-0008) and online at www.ticketmaster.com or www.thegarden.com

SOCIAL MEDIA — #GGGJACOBS

Gennady “GGG” Golovkin
@GGGBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Daniel Jacobs
@DanielJacobsTKO – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez
@ChocolatitoBox – Twitter
@ChocolatitoOfficial – Facebook
@Chocolatito87 – Instagram

Carlos Cuadras
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Ryan Martin
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Bryant Cruz
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HBO
@HBO, @HBOBoxing – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

Madison Square Garden
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Tom Loeffler (K2 Promotions)
@TomLoeffler1 — Twitter