By Allan Fox: Chris Colbert will fight Hector Luis Garcia in a WBA Super Featherweight World Title Eliminator on February 26. It should be interesting.
Other fights on the card:
Gary Antuane Russell vs. Viktor Postol – chief support
Jerwin Ancajas vs. Argentine Fernando Martinez
Last July, the 25-year-old Cobert (6-0, 6 KOs) defeated Tugstsogt Nyambayar by a 12 round unanimous decision. It was a good performance, but not exactly the most entertaining of fights.
In Colbert’s three previous fights, he defeated these fighters:
- Jaime Arboleda
- Jezzrel Corrales
- Miguel Beltran
Colbert isn’t much of a puncher, so we’ll see if he can handle the power from Garcia, who has power and talent. Don’t be surprised if Colbert loses this fight, as he’s a finesse-level fighter.
Colbert is a good talker, but he’s short on power. His best chance of making something happen at 130 is to stay away from the talented fighters in the weight class like Shakur Stevenson, Oscar Valdez, and Shavkat Rakhimov.
Colbert’s promoters are having him target WBA super featherweight champion Roger Gutierrez, as he’s viewed as the weakest link among the champions at 130 in the eyes of many boxing fans.
Daniel Jacobs loses to John Ryder
35-year-old Daniel Jacobs lost a 12 round split decision last Saturday night against John Ryder at the Alexandra Palace in London, England. The loss to Jacobs, even though close, could be the end for him as a good headliner act.
Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs) spent much of the fight holding, making the contest hard to watch. The referee gave the former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Jacobs a massive break by not taking points away.
“I thought it was very close. John started slow in the fight but came back later,” said Frank Smith of Matchroom to Boxing Social. “Danny is a very experienced fighter. He knew how to deal with him, but I thought it could have gone either way.
“Fair play to John Ryder. It was his opportunity to go in there tonight and move on to those big, big nights that he’s been waiting a long time for.
“Danny Jacobs, you got to respect him. He came over to London. He didn’t need to do that. What he’s done in his career, he didn’t need to come over to London.
“It wasn’t too entertaining the early part of the fight, but it ended up picking up in the later rounds,” said Smith. “Yeah, great win for John Ryder,” said Smith.
David Morrell Jr. will be tough for Ryder
“There are some big fights out there for him,” said Frank about what’s next for Ryder. “Obviously, Canelo is holding the belts at 168, so we’re going to have to see how that plays out.
“We’ve got David Morrell, who is the 168 champion with the WBA regular, so maybe that’s a route for him [Ryder]. So let’s see how things play out, and get back out there, and we’ll make the biggest fight possible for John,” said Smith.
Smith isn’t saying that the ONLY option Ryder has as the WBA mandatory is to face ‘regular’ champion David Morrell Jr. (6-0, 5 KOs), and that’s not a good match-up for him.
The Cuban Morrell is a highly accomplished former amateur star, and he’s young at 24, powerful, and not someone that Ryder can count on to hold all night like Jacobs.
It might be better for Matchroom Boxing to take another patch for Ryder to a title shot because his chances of beating a talent like Morrell are virtually nonexistent.
One possible path Ryder has is for his promoter Eddie Hearn to use his friendship with Canelo to try and coax him into giving John a title shot/payday.
At least if Ryder takes that fight, he’ll make life-changing money in the loss. If Ryder faces Morrell, the money won’t be huge, and he’ll surely lose that fight badly. Matchroom has got to know that, of course.
Jacobs not retiring?
“I went to see him, and he was obviously upset, but he feels like he’s still got a lot left to give,” said Smith on his conversation with Jacobs in the dressing room after the fight.
“Whatever decision he makes, he deserves a lot of respect for what he’s done in his career and what he’s been through in his life and the people he’s faced. Let’s see what he chooses to do. Either way, he deserves respect,” said Smith.
What could factor in for whether Jacobs retires or not is if DAZN continues to keep giving him well-paying main event fights, letting him cherry-pick out his opponents?
If Jacobs continues to be given headliner spots on DAZN against the opposition that he chooses, he’ll likely continue his career because why would he retire when he’s getting good money?
Obviously, if DAZN isn’t going to give Jacobs main event slots, his paydays will diminish, and it’ll be tough for him to work his way back to headliner spots given his age and the drop-off of his ability.