HBO Pay-Per-View is at New York’s venerable Madison Square Garden for a night of boxing this Saturday, March 18th. The main event sees Gennady Golovkin, the No. 1 middleweight in the world today, put multiple title belts on the line in a unification bout against WBA world champion Daniel Jacobs. Golovkin is 36-0 with 33 knockouts, and resume-wise Jacobs is not that far off as he is 32-1 with 29 knockouts. Jacobs will also have advantages in height, reach and age, and perhaps more importantly than any boxing match, he has overcome a battle with cancer to become a world champion. Jacobs is from Brooklyn and will hope to have the home-field advantage as well. The last time Jacobs fought in New York was against rival Peter Quillin in December of 2015, and he emerged with a signature first-round KO. Unfortunately for Jacobs, any momentum he could have built up after the fight went by the wayside as he fought just once in 2016. This fight with Golovkin was originally talked about by both parties for the December of 2016 timeframe, but negotiations were postponed for the holidays. The lone loss of Jacobs’ career came way back in July of 2010 when he was stopped by Dmitry Pirog, and he has since gone on a 12-fight winning streak, finishing 11 of them by KO. But Golovkin is the fighter getting all the attention in this one. The Ukrainian headhunter has spent the last six years gathering world titles at 160 pounds, and he has become one of the most feared fighters on the planet. The truth is that at 34 years old, the phenom is no longer “young” and he is looking to cash in and fight often while he is still at the peak of his powers. He is looking to line up a showdown with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez before the end of 2017 that would be a big money fight for “Triple G.” Golovkin is not looking past Jacobs, who he realizes is dangerous and is likely the best opponent he has ever faced. Nowadays, it is par for the course that Golovkin is a major favorite in all his fights, but Jacobs may have more than a puncher’s chance in this one, and at +600 he is a live underdog. The HBO card is seven fights in all, and it is promoted by Tom Loeffler and K2 Promotions. The card also features WBC world super flyweight champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (46-0), as he defends his title against veteran Wisaksil Wangek (41-4-1) in addition to former world champions Carlos Cuadras (35-1-1, 115 pounds) and Andy Lee (34-3-1, 160 pounds). Check back later in the week to see if any additional lines have popped up for this card. Madison Square Garden – New York, New York – PPV Middleweight – 12 rounds Daniel Jacobs +600 o7½ +115 Gennady Golovkin -900 u7½ -135 — True boxing fans and bettors will also want to tune in to take a look as Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (46-0) defends his belt against Wisaksil Wangek (41-4-1) of Thailand. Ever since Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired, there has been debate about the No. 1 active boxer on the planet, and though there is no one guy everyone agrees on, Gonzalez has the most support for the top spot right now. Since Mayweather left, Gonzalez has been fighting on HBO Boxing in tandem with Golovkin on the sport’s biggest stage. Gonzalez has convinced a lot of people with his relentless, high-volume style. Gonzalez operates in the super flyweight division, and he is coming up from boxing’s smallest weight classes, so he is a “little guy” in the classic sense. His base and ability to put together advanced combinations of five and six punches is what separates him, and you simply won’t see that type of skill set from bigger men. This is not to say that Wangek doesn’t have a chance (snicker). He is a professional with a lot of fights, and his last loss came in Mexico back in May of 2014 at the hands of Carlos Cuadras, who he took eight rounds and stole a couple from. Since that loss to Cuadras, he has won 14 fights in a row in his home country of Thailand, but most of those fights have been six-rounders where he faces local competition. It should be noted that he started his boxing career off 1-3-1 in his first five fights, so the loss to Cuadras is his only blemish in the last seven years. It is no coincidence that Cuadras is also on Saturday’s card in a 10-round fight. Cuadras is 35-1-1, with his lone loss being to Gonzalez when “Chocolatito” took his belt from him on HBO in their first meeting. Cuadras is commonly acknowledged as having been the toughest test that Gonzalez has faced, and a rematch was talked about right away. By putting Cuadras in a feature spot on the Gonzalez undercard, HBO is likely signaling that a rematch is next. Madison Square Garden – New York, New York – PPV Super Flyweight – 12 rounds Wisaksil Wangek +1300 Roman Gonzalez -2150
HBO Boxing Odds Matchups: Golovkin-Jacobs, Gonzalez-Wangek Bouts Set for Saturday at MSG
