Via Barry Holbrook: John Ryder faces former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Daniel ‘Miracle Man’ Jacobs this Saturday night on DAZN at Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill. Jacobs and Ryder will be in the spotlight on Saturday, February 12.
It’s a little surprising that DAZN didn’t cut Jacobs off after his poor effort against Gabriel Rosado in November 2020 and a defeat to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in 2019.
Those are both wars that Jacobs wants even though the two fighters are unrelated. Jacobs must look better againtRyder if he is to be seen as a potential world title challenger.
Does Jacobs have anything left?
Jacobs has appeared tireless in his performances and has been disappointing for the confrontation he has faced since his loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2019.
Some boxing fans believe that Jacobs is just fighting for the paycheck and has no motivation other than to try and get well-paid rematches with Canelo and Gennadiy Giolovkin.
Unless Canelo and GGG just want to play it safe, they will never have a rematch with Jacobs as he has done nothing with his career since they both beat him to make him an pick. Feasibility.
Daniel has better hand speed and strength than Ryder, but he looked lazy and timid in his last two bouts. If Jacobs fought like that with Ryder, he would most likely lose.
Ryder, 33, will need to be in his A-game, especially early in the competition because that’s when Jacobs is at his most dangerous. Even though Jacobs (37-3, 30 KOs) is flourishing at 35, he can still punch.
Ryder (30-5.17 KOs) is probably thinking of focusing Jacobs to help him stay focused in the same way he did during his fight with former WBA 168-lb champion CallumSmith.
Jacobs still has quick hands and good feet. He will try to make Ryder work for all he gets in this fight. It will be interesting to see if Ryder can take down former middleweight champion Jacobs.
Alexandra Palace, 2012
🦍 back this Saturday! @_John_Ryder_ | #JacobsRyder pic.twitter.com/u8hNHRfjp8
– Boxing in Matchroom (@MatchroomBoxing) February 8, 2022
Ryder needs to win
This could be Ryder’s last chance, and he can’t lose it if he wants to rise to the super-middle class to challenge for a world title against the undisputed 168-lb champion.
Canelo will be more likely to yield to Ryder than Jacobs as he has never played him before, and it is a match that will be huge in England.
Hearn says Jacobs is still at his peak
This week, Ryder promoter Eddie Hearn announced that Jacobs is still in his prime, which is a surprising comment since he’s nowhere near his peak. Jacobs peaked from 2008 to 2009.
After Jacobs was knocked out in the fifth round by Dmitry Pirog in 2010, he burned through four years of fairly favorable confrontation before defeating Sergio Mora and Peter Quillin in head-to-head matches in 2010. 2015.
In 2016, Jacobs played against Gennady Golovkin and lost game 12 by unanimous decision. Despite fighting passively and yielding the first six innings to Golovkin, Jacobs complained bitterly after the match, believing he had done enough to win the decisive victory. He doesn’t, and he views it as a lousy sport.
Jacobs was dropped by Golovkin in the fourth game and didn’t fight actively, that’s why he lost. We saw the same thing in Jacobs’ loss to Canelo in 2019. He fought passively in the first half of the fight, digging a hole for himself and his rally dwindling.
Unlike Jacobs, Ryder has consistently performed well in his last seven games and fought well enough to deserve a world championship against the former 168-lb WBA champion. Callum Smith.
What Ryder had against him on Saturday night was his lack of punching power and hand speed. He doesn’t have the power to make Jacobs respect him.
For that reason, Ryder will need to put everything he has into his shots to prevent Jacobs from abandoning him and teeing off.
