By Jim Dower: Unbeaten middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs (20-0, 17 KO’s) was too much for over-matched opponent Juan Astorga (14-5-1, 9 KO’s), knocking him down four times and stopping him in the 2nd round on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Paulie Malignaggi bout last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Jacobs, ranked #4 WBA, #6 WBO and #6 WBC, came out firing big power shots in the opening round. He quickly put the 31-year-old Astorga down with a left to the mid section followed by a left to the head.
Moments later, Jacobs dropped Astorga with a left to the head. The third knockdown in the round was from a hard left to the midsection, causing Astorga to take a knee. In the 4th round, Jacobs finished Astorga off with a hard left to the body that made Astorga go down to one knee where he was counted out by referee Steve Willis at 0:51 of the round.
It was a good performance from the 23-year-old Jacobs, who is poised for a title shot in the near future against one of the middleweight champions. Jacobs would have a much better chance against champions Felix Sturm and Sebastian Sylvester rather than WBC/WBO middleweight title holder Sergio Martinez. A fight against Martinez might be too big of a jump for the hard-hitting Jacobs and I think he might struggle with the movement, speed and southpaw style of Martinez.
Astorga was knocked out in the 1st round in his previous bout against John Duddy in January 2010. Astorga has also been stopped in three fighter fights in the past three years, losing to Joey Gilbert, Ronald Hearns and James Cook.
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