(Photo Credit: Amanda Kwok/SHOWTIME) By Jim Dower: #3 WBA Daniel Jacobs (27-1, 24 KOs) battles #2 WBA Jarrod Fletcher (18-1, 10 KOs) tonight for the vacant WBA World middleweight title at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. The World Boxing Association has made a mess with their multiple champions in many of their weight divisions.
After tonight’s Jacobs-Fletcher fight, there will be a WBA Super World middleweight champion in Gennady Golovkin, WBA regular champion in either Jacobs or Fletcher, and then a WBA interim 160 pound champion.
It’s a mess and very confusing for the fans. Of course, it’s obviously a good thing for the fighters because it allows guys like Fletcher and Jacobs to possibly capture a world title that they likely would never be able to do if they had to try and go through Golovkin in order to get it.
Jacobs’ career was sidelined a couple of years ago due to a cancer scare. He took care of the problem and has looked good since he’s been back in the ring. He’s not faced anyone good yet, so it’s hard to say what he’ll be like once he gets in the ring with a quality middleweight.
Fletcher has decent skills, but he’s on the small side for a middleweight and he doesn’t have great power or a good chin. Billy Joe Saunders stopped Fletcher in the 2 rounds two years ago. Fletcher came back from that loss with some victories over weaker opposition.
If Jacobs gets beaten tonight by Fletcher then he might want to consider retiring from the sport because this is a very beatable opponent for him. Jacobs’ promoters at Golden Boy and his adviser have put him in the perfect position to pick up a paper title.
Jacobs already failed in the past in losing to Dmitry Pirog by a 5th round stoppage. He can’t afford to get beaten again.
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