Fury: Jacobs is similar to Lemieux; Saunders needs GGG or Canelo

By Boxing News - 12/17/2017 - Comments

Image: Fury: Jacobs is similar to Lemieux; Saunders needs GGG or Canelo

By Scott Gilfoid: Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury doesn’t rate Danny Jacobs as being a good enough opponent to face WBO 160lb champion Billy Joe Saunders next after the way he beat David Lemieux in Quebec, Canada last Saturday night. Fury says the only 2 guys that can give Saunders a test is Gennady ‘GGG’ Golovkin or Saul Canelo Alvarez.

Those guys are not going to be available for Saunders to fight in early 2018, however. Saunders has time to make another defense of his WBO middleweight title before he faces the winner of Canelo-GGG 2. Saunders can face Jacobs, who Fury sees on the same level as Lemieux, sit idle or take on one the fringe contenders. In that case, Saunders would be facing someone less talented than Jacobs, which you can argue is what he’s been doing with his title defenses against Willie Monroe Jr. and Artur Akavov. Those are not in the same league as Jacobs, and yet Fury didn’t have an issue with Saunders fighting them.

“After that performance, I’d say he needs to be tested by somebody like Golovkin or Canelo,” Fury said to fighthub. “They’re really the only two guys who I think could give him a fight. You look at, people mention Danny Jacobs. Danny Jacobs is very similar to David Lemieux, and we saw what happened here tonight,” said Fury.

If the choice for Saunders’ next fight is between a obscure fringe contender or Jacobs, I think it’s a no-brainer that Jacobs gets the fight. Frankly, I’d be surprised if Saunders is matched against a live body for his next fight, because I don’t think he will. I see Saunders and his promoter likely going soft for his next title defense.

I get the impression that Fury doesn’t want Saunders to fight Jacobs for some reason. There’s a very real potential that Saunders would lose that fight if it ever got made. Fury and Saunders are close friends.

I don’t agree with Fury at all about his thoughts on Jacobs being similar to Lemieux. Jacobs is nothing like Lemieux in fighting style. Jacobs is a boxer/puncher with good foot speed, and big power. Jacobs, 6’0”, is a lot taller than the 5’9” Lemieux, with longer arms, and better boxing skills. If Fury meant that Jacobs is on the same level in terms of talent, I’d say he’s wrong again.

Jacobs came close to beating Golovkin last March in their fight in New York. In contrast, Golovkin easily beat Lemieux by an 8th round knockout victory in 2015. I can give Fury a break. He’s probably not watched a lot of Jacobs’ past fights due to him being an American fighter. Fury might not have ever seen any of Jacobs’ fights before. If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder he’s viewing him and Lemieux as being on the same level. They’re not similar fighters though.

Saunders is going to have to fight someone while he waits for the Canelo-Golovkin fight to get done for May 5. It would be interesting to hear what Fury wants Saunders to do while he waits on the Canelo-GGG fight. Does he want Saunders to be inactive or is he interested in having him fight someone else. It would be humorous if Fury wants Saunders to fight Martin Murray or Tommy Langford rather than Jacobs. That would suggest that Fury rates those guys above Jacobs. That would be confirmation that Fury out of touch with ratings for the middleweight division.

“By no means was this the best of Billy Joe Saunders,” said Fury. ”He’s got all the levels, and we’re going to see them, I think. Very much more to come. He boxed extremely well. The better opponent he faces, the better you’ll see of Billy Joe Saunders.”

I think this was the best Saunders you’ll ever see, because it was the perfect opponent for him to look good against in Lemieux. I view Saunders as being just as vulnerable now as he was BEFORE he fought Lemieux. The only thing that kept Saunders from looking bad is he was matched against the perfect opponent for his style. Saunders looked terrible against Artur Akavov and Willie Monroe Jr.

I would pick these fighters to beat Saunders:

• Jermall Charlo

• Danny Jacobs

• Sergiy Derevyanchenko

• Gennady Golovkin

• Saul Canelo Alvarez

• Demetrius Andrade

• Andy Lee – Yes, I know Saunders beat him 2 years ago, but I scored the fight a draw

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