Friday, February 11, 2022

Boxing Challenge

   The boxing weekend (and challenge) is limited this weekend with only one pairing for the challenge as former IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs crosses the Atlantic to face England's John Ryder in a WBA super middleweight eliminator.

I've never seen what the fascination has been about Daniel Jacobs, who has proven more in two losses (Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez) that some thought were far closer than I did than in any win in a career that his best wins were over Peter Quillin and Sergey Dereyvanchenko.

Jacobs looked horrible in his last fight in November 2020 in a split decision win over Gabriel Rosado that was painful to watch and is better remembered for the announcement botching by ring announcer Jeremiah Gallegos than anything either fighter did in the fight!

At 35, Jacobs cannot afford a loss as he attempts to become a mandatory challenger for a Canelo Alvarez rematch or settle into position for a vacant title if Canelo leaves the 168-pound division for good.

John Ryder was a solid European-level super middleweight that seemed to have reached his ceiling in winning a minor WBA title before getting a shot at WBSS winner and WBA/WBC champion Callum Smith as a heavy underdog.

Ryder surprisingly gave Smith all he could handle in a close unanimous decision loss, that I scored for Ryder and has won two fights since in stay-busy fights.

Ryder is an awkward fighter to face as a southpaw that comes forward and while Jacobs hasn't looked good of late, Jacobs should be able to land often against a charging Ryder-in theory.

Callum Smith was expected to do the same against Ryder as the same type of fighter- tall, lanky with good power, and Smith had problems keeping Ryder off of him.

It might not be a great fight but it is an interesting one to ponder..

Super Middleweights. 12 Rds
Daniel Jacobs vs John Ryder
R.L: Jacobs KO 9
TRS: Jacobs Split Decision
V.S: Ryder Split Decision  

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