PRIOR to his world middleweight title tilt against division leader Gennady Golovkin in New York’s Madison Square Garden, not many people gave Daniel Jacobs a real chance of securing the upset. And while ultimately Jacobs did come out second best to Golovkin on the scorecards, there were many in attendance – and watching around the world – who believed the American challenger deserved to receive the verdict over his Kazakh opponent. Unsurprisingly, Jacobs thought that his impressive performance warranted the victory.

“I’m pretty proud of myself that I went in there and gave it all that I had,” Daniel said at the post-fight press conference. “I showed some moments of true grit. The decision didn’t go in my favour, although I do really feel like I won the fight. I definitely think it could’ve been a draw – at least. But I won’t complain.

“It definitely wasn’t a dull fight. We traded, we boxed, we used our skills, and we entertained everyone. I’m grateful that I had the opportunity [to fight Golovkin], and with the performance that I put in, I know that it’s not over for me. My future is bright. I’m going to keep pushing. I’m confident that I can go on to be the best middleweight in the world.

“This was a win-win situation for me. When you’re considered the underdog – like I was – and you go the distance, fight back and hurt the favourite, you prove to everyone that you’re a crowd-pleasing fighter. I knew I had to go out there, fight the best, and earn my respect. Now I’ll have to go back to the drawing board and see if I can get the rematch. If we could do it again, I’d love to. If not, I’ll move forward.”

Much was made of Golovkin’s frightening power heading into the contest, but, aside from a fourth-round knockdown, Jacobs seemed to deal with his opponent’s punch potency well.

“[Golovkin’s power] wasn’t what everyone made it out to be,” Jacobs revealed. “He definitely wasn’t the boogeyman, knockout artist that everyone was saying about. Even when I got dropped, I wanted to go and trade with him straightaway again. I stood toe to toe with him right after I got knocked down. I really didn’t get hurt. He’s a fair-sized middleweight, but I knew going into the fight that I’d be the bigger man [according to Daniel, he weighed about 175lbs on fight night]. He came forward, but he showed me respect. He didn’t come forward disrespectfully like he did with every other fighter before me. My boxing ability and power demanded that respect.

“I definitely thought I hurt him. Maybe two times in the fight. Not really enough to put him down, but I definitely saw him back up. I also heard him groan after I hit him with a hard body shot. I knew he was just a man, and he could be hurt.”

Much of the success Jacobs enjoyed in the bout came when he was fighting from a southpaw stance. This was something that the Brooklyn man admitted he had worked on in the build-up to the clash.

Jacobs stated: “He showed vulnerability when I switched southpaw. If you’ve ever seen him fight a southpaw, he’s always shown vulnerability – against Kassim Ouma, Willie Monroe Jnr, Ian Gardner. I noticed some flaws in him there. I felt like I confused him. At times he couldn’t even touch me, and I landed at will. I’m really happy with my performance. In my heart, it feels like I didn’t lose the fight.”