Daniel Jacobs leans on Andre Ward and a ‘Hulk’ mind-set while readying for Gennady Golovkin

It seems that almost everything Daniel Jacobs hears about his March 18 opponent, Gennady Golovkin, is that the mauler from Kazakhstan who’s won 23 consecutive fights by knockout is an unbeatable machine.

Jacobs, who has already defied a more monstrous challenge, is making a multi-pronged effort this training camp with hopes of toppling the unbeaten, three-belt middleweight champion at Madison Square Garden.

Part of it involves expert consultation with unbeaten, three-belt light-heavyweight champion Andre Ward. Part of it summons “The Incredible Hulk.” And some relies on the benefits of nutritionist Chris Algieri, the former champion boxer and Jacobs’ fellow New Yorker.

Jacobs (32-1, 29 knockouts), continuing training at Virgil Hunter’s gym in Oakland for the HBO pay-per-view bout, told The Times in a phone interview Tuesday that Hunter and his star pupil, Ward, have reinforced in him the idea that Golovkin is mortal.

“He’s human, and whatever monster people are making him out to be … really, don’t believe the hype,” Jacobs said when asked about Hunter and Ward’s advice. “That’s the approach I’ve had coming into this fight. It’s why I accepted the fight.

“Just because he’s done these things to other opponents, those guys aren’t me. He’s promoted as this big monster. … We don’t care about any of that stuff. I’m going to step in there and prove I’m the best middleweight out there.

“Obviously, we’re prepared for the best ‘GGG,’ but my focus is on the things I need. If I can be the best me and control the pace to my liking, and do the things I like to do, I’m sure I’ll be successful.”

Less than two years ago, Ward flirted with the idea of fighting Golovkin, so he has an idea of how to approach the menace who stopped his most recent bout by breaking the orbital bone of England’s Kell Brook.

“Andre and I have had several one-on-ones and he’s even gotten up in the ring with me one time to show me some techniques I’m grateful for,” Jacobs said. “Andre Ward is a guy I look up to, a guy I have the highest respect for in and out of the ring, so anytime he can give me some kind of advice, I’m like a sponge.

“We have different styles, so it’s not about what he would do, but the obvious things I know about Gennady Golovkin’s style and what I think I can capitalize on that get reiterated. Andre and I both move well and we’re both fast, but at the same time he gives me advice that fits me.”

Jacobs took encouragement from how Brook landed punches in the early rounds of their bout in England, and after Jacobs’ impressive first-round disposal of Peter Quillin and five-knockdown destruction of former champion Sergio Mora, he sees a path to an upset.

Part of it comes in the confidence of supreme conditioning. Algieri, a former 140-pound champion, was cooking for Jacobs as he spoke Tuesday, and Jacobs said the benefits of those meals are undeniably positive.

Mentally, it’s a return to how Jacobs pulled himself from the darkness of his past cancer diagnosis.

Once weakened to the point of requiring a wheelchair during the 2011-12 health battle, Jacobs sees parallels in the mind-set needed to deal with that situation and with the test against Golovkin (36-0, 33 KOs).

“That was the mentality I had when doctors told me I couldn’t box again,” he said. “I had to prove to myself it was mind over matter. This fight is going to be no different.”

The outcome could be decided by whether Jacobs — who was knocked down once by Mora in their first meeting in 2015 and stopped in the fifth round by Dmitry Pirog in 2010 — can take a flush punch from Golovkin to the head.

“It’s not that farfetched of a question, because I have been down in the past, but I don’t think I get the credit [for chin toughness] that I deserve,” Jacobs said. “Fans have seen these things and they know Golovkin’s power. So it’s easy to criticize me and say that might be the thing that doesn’t allow me to win this fight: ‘If he gets hit, will he be able to take those shots?’

“But you’ve got to think back to the guys who’ve been in the same position as me, like a ‘Buster’ Douglas [against Mike Tyson], Aaron Pryor against Alexis Arguello, Sugar Ray Leonard against those guys [Thomas Hearns, Roberto Duran, Marvin Hagler].

“It’s a mentality — the strength you have to not go down, to not be hurt when you’re hit. Going down can be triggered by your mental state. This is a fight I believe in, and I believe I can be victorious. And I also believe I have to become somewhat of a superhero, a ‘Hulk’ in some sense — to have the type of mentality that when I get hit, I tell myself, ‘This doesn’t hurt, this doesn’t have to stop me from achieving my goal.’”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

@latimespugmire