Daniel Jacobs: I want Billy Joe Saunders

By Boxing News - 03/28/2016 - Comments

1-Jacobs-Hardy-Foreman_MediaWorkout-18By Scott Gilfoid: WBA World middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs (31-1, 28 KOs) wants to take the scalp of WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) in his next fight.

Jacobs, 29, called Saunders out in social media, and Saunders responded back, saying that he’ll kick Jacobs’ backside. However, it looks like Saunders is just flapping his gums with no real serious interest in fighting the dangerous KO artist Jacobs, because Saunders has a fight scheduled on April 30 against #11 WBO fringe contender Max Bursak (32 4 1, 15 KOs) at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK.

Saunders, 26, has been calling out IBF/IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs) lately, saying he wants to fight him in the summer after the two fighters win their next fights. Golovkin faces unbeaten #3 IBF Dominic Wade (18-0, 12 KOs) next month on April 23 at the Forum in Inglewood, California.

It’s unclear if Golovkin is going to bother taking the fight with Saunders though, because he’s targeting the winner of the Amir Khan vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez fight for later this year.

Once Golovkin takes care of Wade on April 23, he’ll only have five months before Canelo’s next September date for his next fight. That is obviously not going to be enough time for Golovkin to squeeze in a fight against Saunders. As such, it would be in Saunders’ best interest to take the fight against Jacobs next if he wants a nice payday. Of course, if Saunders is afraid to mix it up with Jacobs and not serious about wanting to fight him, then I can totally understand why he would want to steer clear of the fight in order to save his hide.

“@DanielJacobsTKO you want me I’ll kick your [expletive] son ‘ your not even world champ belt number2 you hold,” said Saunders on his Twitter.

Jacobs then responded back by saying this:

“@bjsaunders_ no need to go back n forth. You know where I stand ! I want dat [expletive]. Sign the contract!!!!”

I think it’s pretty obvious that Saunders’ best shot at a big payday in 2016 is either a fight against Jacobs or a rematch with Chris Eubank Jr, who he already beat in 2014 by a 12 round decision. My guess is Saunders will opt for the rematch with Eubank Jr., because it’s the more winnable fight than the Jacobs fight. Jacobs has crushing power and would be a threat to KO Saunders unlike Eubank Jr, who isn’t a big puncher.

Eubank Jr. is the type of fighter who needs to land a lot of shots over many rounds to bludgeon his opponents into submission. Eubank Jr. only has an uppercut that he can throw with power, and it’s not all that powerful. I don’t know why, but Eubank Jr. can’t get major power on his uppercuts like other fighters can.

I wish I could say that Saunders will do the brave thing and take on Jacobs, but I don’t see that happening. The difference between Jacobs and Eubank Jr. is there’s very little margin of error with Jacobs. You make a mistake and he’s got your backside. He’ll knock you silly with one shot, and then flurry on you until you drop. Eubank Jr. is a safe pick because he doesn’t have a jab to speak of, and his power is very limited.



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