By Dan Ambrose: Daniel Jacobs still has his sights set on facing journeymen Gabriel Rosado (25-12-1, 14 KOs) when boxing restarts in 2020 or 2021. Despite the lack of fan interest, the former two-time world middleweight champion Jacobs (36-3, 30 KOs) feels it’s essential that he face the 34-year-old Rosado, as he believes the fans on the East Coast in New York and Philly will want to see it.
Jacobs’ promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom prefers that he fight world champions Callum Smith or Billy Joe Saunders next rather than journeyman Rosado. From DAZN’s perspective, a fight between Jacobs and Rosado is a bad idea.
That’s the type of fight that won’t generate subscriptions for DAZN, and it’s not a time for it to be made. When boxing restarts, DAZN needs to stream huge fights that will attract fans to bring back the subscribers that they lost due to the pandemic. Jacobs’ idea of padding his record with a soft fight against the often-beaten Rosado, it’s a wrong-headed plan.
At this point in Jacobs’ career, he doesn’t need to fight journeyman. He should be fighting world-class guys like Saunders, Davis Benavidez, Callum Smith, and Caleb Plant. Hearn doesn’t need to enable Jacobs by having him hand-pick his opponents.
As Jacobs’ promoter, Hearn should be telling him that it’s crucial for him to face upper-tier opposition for the sake of DAZN’s subscribers.
Chavez Jr. fight was crazy – Jacobs
“It was a crazy fight. I wanted to fight the son of a legend and do it for the fans,” said Jacobs to IFL TV on his match against Chavez Jr. last December. “The phoenix fans hadn’t had a fight of that magnitude for a while. So for us to come and bless everyone and let them experience such great fights and to have that commotion happen afterward was disappointing. But I can understand their frustration,” said Jacobs.
What Jacobs isn’t saying is that boxing fans in Phoenix were upset at how one-sided his mismatch with past his best Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was last December. It wasn’t just the way the fight ended in the 5th with Chavez Jr. quitting on his stool that angered fans.
They weren’t pleased that the fight was a one-sided affair, as they had paid their hard-earned money, thinking it would be a quality match. The people who came to the fight didn’t realize that Chavez Jr. never had a chance against Jacobs, as he’s little more than a shell of his former self from eight years ago. That’s why it troubling that Jacobs chose to fight Chavez Jr. in the first place.
He was asking for trouble in making this fight. Now on top of that, Jacobs wants another mismatch against Rosado. Talk about hour bad ideas.
Hearn needs to pull Jacobs aside and let him know that this is a bad time for him to be staging headliner fights against hopelessly over-matched journeyman opponents. They just saw Jacobs with a poor opponent in Chavez. The 33-year-old Jacobs needs to get back with it and start fighting quality opposition once again so that his career doesn’t get wasted.
Jacobs: Rosado is a perfect fight for me
“I would entertain it,” said Jacobs when asked if he’s interested in fighting Gabe Rosado. “As I said before, sometimes there are fights that you want to do it for personal reasons, and I kind of want to settle the debt. We’ve been fussing for the last few years.
“I don’t want him nor do I want to go in our careers and say, ‘We should have or could have’ and thinking he was the better man than I was. It’s no real beef. It’s more of a competitiveness. He might have said a few things that I didn’t like, and I had to check him on it. But that’s a man-to-man thing.
“At the same time, I genuinely want this fight, and I feel it’s a good fight as well to have in Philly or have in New York as well. So coming back from the pandemic, that would be the perfect fight for me,” said Jacobs of his hoped-for bout against journeyman Rosado.
“Oh, he’s screaming and shouting. But I understand the platform that he has and what he needs to do [to get a fight]. All fighters need to do it but do it respectfully.
“But at the same time, it worked for him because he got under my skin. But in the future looking forward, I see that if that fight pan out, I see me sticking it out at 168 and fighting the who’s who in the division,” said Jacobs.
It would be interesting to listen in to Hearn’s thoughts each time Jacobs brings up the idea of fighting Rosado. Hearn can’t be excited about Jacobs wasting fights facing weak opposition like Rosado and Chavez Jr.
Saunders doesn’t impress Jacobs
“As we know, sometimes Billy Joe doesn’t show up for fights,” said Jacobs when asked about WBO super middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders. “His preparation [isn’t what it should be]. He’s bloated. I don’t know if it’s a weight issue, but we’ve seen the best of Billy Joe.
“As of recent, we haven’t seen the best, or maybe we have. I don’t know. It hasn’t been what Billy Joe has to offer. I think it’s disappointing because I like the kid, even though I don’t think he’s the best role model. I like his boxing style, but to compare it to Canelo, I don’t know.
“He has the tools as a southpaw of hit and not get hit. Canelo sometimes has that planted feet, and sometimes fights in spurts. If he’s [Saunders] a very disciplined fighter, I see his chances being fair. But as of recent, we haven’t seen the best. I don’t think it’ll be in his favor,” said Jacobs.
Billy Joe Saunders had looked horrible since last year when he moved up to 168 against Shefat Isufi. The fact that Canelo has picked Saunders as his opponent gives you incite to what the Mexican star deems important at this stage in his career.
Canelo is coming off of a win over a shot former WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev, and now he’s facing another weak champion in WBO 168-lb champion Saunders.
Jacobs interested in fighting Saunders and Callum Smith
“Absolutely,” said Jacobs when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Billy Joe or Callum Smith. “I don’t want to come up to the super middleweight division and pick fights. Gabriel Rosado is a personal fight that just happens to be understandable, and it’s not even a 100 percent fight.
“That’s just what I want for the future. As far as my future in the super middleweight division, I want the who’s who. I want what makes sense for my career, but as far as champions are concerned, I wan 1, 2, 3, and 4 because there are tons of guys available.
“I rate [David] Benavidez as one of the best in the division,” said Jacobs. “He’s still young too, but he has a lot to learn. But as far as his physique, and his fast hands, I like him.
“I’ve always watched him since I’ve seen him come to the game. Even being in the super middleweight division, I’m kind of a fan of guys. I’d like to be with all of them, and I believe I can be the best in the division. I just need to prove myself.
“It would probably be Callum Smith because I think it would be the biggest fight, and I also think it’s a fight that can be made,” said Jacobs when asked who he would like to fight if he could pick anyone at 168.
“With Billy Joe, I’ve tried to make that fight in the past, and I don’t think he wanted to fight. Callum Smith, I’m not sure if he called me out, but him wanting to fight me, I think it’s a fight that makes sense,” said Jacobs.
Canelo rematch interests Jacobs
“I just feel that if he campaigned at the super middleweight division, that would make sense,” said Jacobs when asked if he wants a rematch with Canelo Alvarez. “But I’ve had my opportunity to fight Canelo, and how it went with the weight issues, we already know, and we already discussed it.
“But in terms of the future, I’m not sure. This is boxing, and we have to be realistic with ourselves as fighters. Of course, I would want to fight Canelo next. That would be my next fight if it could be, but obviously, this is boxing. It’s a business. I just have to wait my turn and prove myself and get back in position to have that opportunity.
“And I would love that, and I think that would be huge,” said Jacobs when asked if he’d like to fight in the U.K. “I like the U.K. fans in general, and I think you’re the biggest boxing fan in the world.
“So it would be my honor to fight a world champion there. I wouldn’t presume that Callum Smith and Billy Joe would be opposed to coming to the U.S. But that’s up to our teams, our managers, and the powers that be,” said Jacobs.
Canelo probably won’t ever fight Jacobs again, considering he already beat him in 2019. The only way that Canelo would think of facing Jacobs a second time is if he started beating the small handful of talented fighters at 168. But with Jacobs talking about wanting to fight Rosado and Saunders, it’s clear that he has no interest in facing the best.