For what it lacked in terms of fanfare coming in, top middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs and unheralded Maciej Sulecki put on quite an entertaining show on Saturday in Brooklyn, New York.

Jacobs (34-2, 29 KOs), who was fighting in his backyard at the Barclays Center, scored an exciting knockdown in Round 12 to cement a hard-fought victory by unanimous decision. Jacobs, 31, took home judges scores of 117-110, 116-111 and 115-112 to become the No. 1 contender to Gennady Golovkin's WBA middleweight championship.

While the clean punching and strong finish from Jacobs kept him in the conversation of the best 160-pound fighters in the sport, the fight also showcased the toughness and excitement of Sulecki (26-1, 10 KOs), a native of Poland who was stepping up in class.

"He's a tough customer," Jacobs said. "Sometimes everything doesn't go your way inside the ring and he was able to prove that he was a tough customer and he belonged in here tonight."

Sulecki, who spent his last three fights at junior middleweight, got Jacobs' attention in Round 1 with a short right hand to the chin. From there, the 28-year-old was able to stay in the fight due to his toughness and ability to trade on the inside, despite being outlanded 205 to 143, according to CompuBox.

"I came in prepared for everything that he had," Jacobs said. "Looking at his fights, I knew he was a tough customer. I think we abandoned the jab a little bit but other than that, trying to go for the knockout because I knew the fans wanted a good show. At the end of the day, I thought I did very well to grab a unanimous decision."

In the end, Jacobs was able to rely on his craft to get the better of exchanges in a very competitive fight. Yet despite appearing to be ahead on the scorecards entering the 12th and final round, the fighter known as "The Miracle Man" for coming back from cancer, made sure to leave no doubt.

Jacobs beat Sulecki to the punch with a right hand as both looked to unload at the same time, folding him up for a highlight-reel knockdown. From there, the two middleweights traded heavy punches until the bell in a rousing final round.

"I keep a dialogue with my corner men and they told me I was up [entering Round 12]," Jacobs said. "I was confident going into the last round that if I pick up the pace, maybe I could get a knockout or at least I could get a decision.

"I believe I caught him in between punches. He was throwing his right hand and boom. When you are throwing and you put your weight into my power, it's tough. It's hard to take those shots."

The victory was the second straight for Jacobs, who outpointed Luis Arias in November, since signing a promotional deal with Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Sport and moving over to HBO.

Jacobs, who lost a competitive decision to Golovkin in March 2017, said his main focus next was securing a fight against one of the other champions in the division. Golovkin, who holds three of the four recognized titles, will face Vanes Martirosyan on May 5 while WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders defends against Martin Murray on June 23.

Should he not be able to get a fight against a current champion, Jacobs did say he would look down the list of available contenders and didn't dodge the idea of a grudge match against unbeaten Jermall Charlo, whom he traded heated insults with backstage at the Barclays Center on March 3.

"If Brooklyn wants Charlo, Charlo where are you at boy?" Jacobs said. "Come see me. I'm the king of Brooklyn. You know what it is."