Jacobs could be Golovkin's biggest test

BoxNation, 1am Sunday

Gennady Golovkin is possibly the most exciting boxer on the planet, but he is facing one of the biggest tests of his career at Madison Square Garden in New York when he squares up to Daniel Jacobs.

Triple G has cleaned up the middleweight division and holds the belts of all the governing bodies other than the WBO strap that is around the waist of Billy Joe Saunders.

Saunders may well be next on Golovkin's hitlist but first he must deal with Jacobs, who is undoubtedly the number one challenger to the Kazakh's middleweight throne and is expected to have a considerable size advantage when the fighters enter the ring.

Jacobs is around 5-1 to shock the world of boxing, but beating up bigger guys is nothing new to Golovkin. Since 2008 everyone who has stepped into a ring with him has been knocked out - an incredible KO streak of 23.

Kell Brook decided to go for broke in Golovkin's last fight and had some success early on, but Triple G responded by breaking the Brit's eye socket with a vicious barrage of punches and the towel appeared in the fifth to save Brook from more serious injury.

Jacobs, however, has a KO streak almost as impressive. All but three of his 31 wins have been by stoppage, including all of his last 12. He does have one stoppage defeat on his record - a fifth-round loss to Dmitry Pirog in 2010, but he has improved significantly since then.

An upset cannot be ruled out, but Golovkin deserves to be a big favourite. The best bet may be to back under 6.5 rounds as both men have dynamite in their fists and will throw bombs from the opening bell.

Recommendation
Under 6.5 rounds
1pt Evs Sky Bet