By Edward Chaykovsky

After twelve tough rounds of combat, Daniel Jacobs (32-2, 29 KOs) doesn't feel Gennady "GGG" Golovkin (37-0, 33 KOs) was the "bogeyman" that everyone said he was in the middleweight division.

Last month at New York's Madison Square Garden, Golovkin won a close twelve round unanimous decision over Jacobs, with scores of 114-113, 115-112, 115-112.

Jacobs became the first man to take Golovkin the full twelve round distance. The outcome also snapped Golovkin's streak of knockouts. Coming into that fight, Golovkin had stopped 23 opponents in a row.

Jacobs was a big underdog - mostly because of his chin. Several years ago he was knocked out by Dmitry Pirog, who is not as big of a puncher as Golovkin. And Jacobs was also dropped by the light punching Sergio Mora.

Jacobs strongly feels that he was robbed on the scorecards, and claims to have heard some of Golovkin's own fans protesting the outcome.

"I think first we learned that he wasn't the bogeyman that everyone made him out to be, and I think also I was better than a lot of people thought I was.  I think I gained a lot of respect that night and a lot of people are going to be following my career in the future," Jacobs told Sports Illustrated.

"When the decision was announced, you even heard some of Triple G's fans kind of booing, you kind of heard everyone making it such a big deal and controversial - for me that's a pat on my back. In this sport, you can win some and you can lose some, but in this situation we gained more than we lost."

After the fight was over, Jacobs stated to reporters that he felt the judges were influenced by the fact that Golovkin was positioned to face Saul "Canelo" Alvarez in a major pay-per-view in the fall.

"This boxing game is a funny business that's been like that throughout the years. I kind of still feel the same way [about Golovkin-Canelo playing a role in the scores], but I take it better now. I think the future is bright and Im not going to backtrack. I look forward to the future," Jacobs said.

"I want Triple G bad. I think there would be a bitter taste in my mouth if I ended my career and didn't get that rematch."