By Sean Jones: Middleweight champions Saul Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs were involved in a mini-skirmish on Friday at their weigh-in, and the two of them were forced to be separated before fists began flying. Basically, WBA/WBC middleweight champion Canelo (51-1-2, 35 KOs) started it by putting his head against IBF champion Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs) during the face off, and then getting hostile when Jacobs applied pressure to get him to back up. Canelo then started pushing, and the two of them had to be separated. An irate Canelo had to be restrained from rushing Jacobs.
The scuffle looked a bit staged, I hate to say. Whether Canelo was serious or not is hard to tell. It looked like it was very theatrical performance by Canelo from the way I saw it. One can tell when fighters are angry or not, and Canelo had the look of someone that was play acting, and not doing a very good job. Having seen Canelo angry in real life in the past, he looked like he ready to audition for a play. It would have looked more authentic if the two weren’t so nice to each other all this time. When all of a sudden you get anger at a weigh-in, it sends red flags that it’s acting. We saw the same thing when Canelo and Gennady Golovkin faced off at the weigh-in for their rematch. It was nothing but niceties between them until the weigh-in, then you get the performance. These guys are professional fighters. Today’s scuffle looked too much like something out of a WWE event. It might get some more boxing fans to subscribe to DAZN on Saturday. You have to respect the effort and the good intentions.
When the two fighters were being interviewed later, both were trash talking like mad. Canelo says he saw fear in Jacobs, and that’s why he reacted the way he did. However, it was Canelo that put his head against Jacobs to start the problems, so his explanation of what caused the scuffle was a little bit off.
Jacobs weighted in right at the middleweight limit at 160 pounds, and looked lean, muscular and in great shape. In contrast, Canelo looked painfully thin, and looked very drawn, as he weighed in at 159 1/2 lbs. Canelo had the look of someone that is going to put a lot of weight back on before he steps foot inside the ring.
There’s a secondary weigh-in Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. that both fighters will need to attend. The weight limit for this weigh-in is 170 lbs. If either fighter comes in over the limit, then they’ll need to pay $100,000 per pound. With Canelo having recently signed a huge $365 million contract with DAZN for 11 fights, you can imagine that the weight penalty won’t be an issue for him if he comes over the 170 lb limit. It’s a different story for Jacobs obviously, which is weight penalties are arguably unfair, because they can potentially affect the less prosperous fighter.
“Everything I do is for my family,” Jacobs said after the weigh-in. “I’m going to talk with my fists Saturday night. That motherf—- right there, he’s going to get it tomorrow. Watch that sh—. I feel like I’m the best middleweight in the world.”
Jacobs was obviously VERY keyed up from this scuffle with Canelo Alvarez. You can’t blame Jacobs, because he didn’t start it. He was just standing there, and Canelo decided he wanted to press his head against him during the face off, and then he started shoving. Jacobs isn’t the type to allow himself to be shoved, so he pushed back. Anyone would have reacted the same way.
“I see fear. There was fear in what he did,” Canelo said. “I’m going to win. I hope he tries [to knock me out], but he won’t be able to. He won’t be capable.”
This writer isn’t an expert at reading body language, but it sure looked like Canelo appeared very nervous and almost afraid. Jacobs was towering over him, and Canelo might be realizing that it’s on now. His time at the top could end tomorrow with one swing by Jacobs. If Canelo gets knocked out by Jacobs, he could see his 15 minutes of fame being over. It ends quickly for fighters sometimes.
These guys have one more weigh-in that they got to deal with on Saturday morning. There wouldn’t be one, but Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions chose to put a 10 pound rehydration clause in the contract to limit how much weight the two fighters can gain back overnight after their weigh-in. As this writer mentioned already, Canelo and Jacobs can’t weigh over 170 lbs tomorrow morning without having to deal with the weight penalty. Jacobs revealed that the weight penalty was initially $250,000 per pound, which is an incredible amount. It’s unclear what Jacobs’ purse will be for the fight, but you can imagine it would be eaten up quickly if he were to come in five lbs over the 170 lb weigh-in limit on Saturday morning. It seems silly for there to be a secondary weigh-in, but for some reason, Canelo’s promoters at Golden Boy Promotions felt it was important. Jacobs believes they put the rehydration clause in the contract because they think he’s going to put a lot of weight on overnight tonight. The way the two fighters looked, it might hurt Canelo more than Jacobs, because he looked really drawn.
As painfully thin as Canelo looked at the weigh-in today, it would have been bad for him if he’d gotten to Jacobs. Canelo looked REALLY weak from weight loss. The last thing that Canelo needed was to have Jacobs tagging him before they face each other tomorrow.
This whole rehydration limit could hurt Canelo more than Jacobs. In the future, Canelo needs to let his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions to stop trying to help him with their rehydration clauses and catch-weights. If Canelo is the real deal, why are they using rehydration clauses? The boxing greats of the past didn’t need rehydration clauses or catch-weights.