By Jim Dower: Unbeaten middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs (20-0, 17 KO’s) could challenge for the middleweight title against either Felix Sturm or Sebastian Sylvester, according to Sportsillustrated. Jacobs, only 23, destroyed Juan Astorga in two rounds last weekend on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Paulie Malignaggi fight at Madison Square Garden, in New York. Jacobs looked very impressive in that fight, and knocked Astorga down four times before stopping him in the 2nd.
While it might be a tough fight for Jacobs to be matched against WBC/WBO middleweight champion Sergio Martinez at this point in his still early in Jacobs’ three-year pro career, he would appear to have more than it takes to beat WBA middleweight title holder Sturm and IBF champion Sylvester. Both of those fighters are good, but not particularly powerful. Jacobs would have a big advantage in power over both of them. The real issue would be whether or not Jacobs could get past their jabs.
Sturm and Sylvester both have excellent jabs and it makes them tough while they’re on the outside. However, if Jacobs could get inside on them, he could really take advantage of his better inside skills to give them problems. Neither Sturm nor Sylvester have much of an inside game and they could be facing huge problems against Jacobs if he could stay close to them all night. Jacobs has an excellent jab, too, although not quite as good as those fighters.
Jacobs struggled last year in beating Ishe Smith by a 10 round decision in August. The scores were pretty lopsided for Jacobs in that fight, but he struggled none the less against Smith and was staggered briefly. Sturm and Sylvester aren’t big punchers, so Jacobs probably doesn’t have to worry about that. He just has to figure out how to get past their jabs and beat them on the inside.
Comments are closed.