Gennady Golovkin vs. Danny Jacobs: Fight Date Announced, Comments, Reaction

The middleweight title bout between WBC, IBF and WBA champion Gennady Golovkin and Danny Jacobs has officially been announced for March 18, 2017, at Madison Square Garden in New York.

GGG confirmed the news via Twitter:

Golovkin had been looking for his next opponent since stopping Kell Brook in October at the O2 Arena in London. As his mandatory challenger, Jacobs presents one of GGG's biggest obstacles yet―the 29-year-old hasn't lost since 2010 and carries a record of 32-1-0 into the bout.

Per Mitch Abramson of RingTV, it will be Jacobs' first appearance on an HBO PPV since his loss against Dmitry Pirog. He has 12 straight wins since then, all coming via stoppage, per BoxRec. 

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Jacobs has tremendous power and is a more technically refined fighter than David Lemieux, the last real knockout artist Golovkin fought. Since that win in November 2015, GGG has beaten Dominic Wade and Brook, two fighters who were clearly overmatched by the Kazakh.

The Fight City's Lee John Wylie thinks he's in for quite a challenge this time around:

Fans have been hoping to see Golovkin matched up against an elite middleweight fighter for years now. The 34-year-old has torn through a division in which the top names have avoided him like the plague. 

A bout between Golovkin and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez remains the dream for most fight fans, but per Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, such a bout won't happen anytime soon. The two could face each other in the fall of 2017, and in Jacobs, GGG has picked a dangerous opponent to go up against in the lead-up to such a superfight.

A win over Jacobs would arguably be the biggest of his career, however, silencing some of the doubters who claim he has never been tested by a solid opponent.