Danny Jacobs and John Ryder have agreed to a deal to headline on February 12th on DAZN in London, England, in a Matchroom Boxing promoted card.
It’s unclear whether the fight is a WBA super middleweight title eliminator or not at this time, but it would make sense if it were. ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder (30-5, 17 KOs) is ranked #3, and Jacobs (37-3, 30 KOs) is rated #5.
DAZN is taking somewhat of a risk by agreeing to show the Jacobs vs. Ryder fight in the main event because there’s no demand for this type of fight.
Jacobs hasn’t looked good in years and appears to be just going through the motions at this stage of his career. Ryder never was that good, and he lacks power, size, and speed.
Jacobs, 34, and Ryder would like to get a title shot against WBA ‘Super World’ 168-lb champion, considering that’s where they can make huge money.
The reaction on social media to the Jacobs vs. Ryder fight being agreed has been primarily negative from boxing fans, unfortunately. There are possibly two reasons for that.
Firstly, Jacobs hasn’t performed well since his loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2019, and some believe that the big payday ‘The Miracle Man’ got in that fight robbed him of his ambition.
Jacobs made a killing with his big payday against Canelo, getting millions for that fight. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Jacobs’ net worth is $10 million.
Suddenly coming into that kind of windfall would change anyone. Look what happened to Andy Ruiz Jr. after making a small fortune of $10 million in his two fights with Anthony Joshua, and he’s only fought once since making all that money, and he looked terrible in beating 40-year-0ld Chris Arreola last May.
Secondly, Jacobs hasn’t fought anyone that the boxing public was interested in seeing him fight since his loss to Canelo. Fans would like to see Jacobs take on these fighters:
- David Benavidez
- David Morrell Jr
- Demetrius Andrade
- Jermall Charlo
- Caleb Plant
- Artur Beterbiev
- Dmitry Bivol
- Gennadiy Golovkin
Instead of fighting those guys, Jacobs has been aiming low with fights against Gabe Rosado and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
In Jacobs’ two fights since his loss to Canelo, he’s beaten Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. by a fifth round stoppage in December 2019 and then defeated Gabriel Rosado by a controversial 12 round split decision in November 2020.
Both fights were shown on DAZN, and many boxing fans felt that Jacobs was given a gift in his win over Rosado, as he fought like he was afraid the entire fight.
As for Jacobs’ match against Chavez, Jr, it’s unknown why he picked that over-the-hill fighter as an opponent because the Mexican fighter has been shot for many, many years. DAZN dropped the ball, agreeing to show Jacobs vs. Chavez Jr. on their platform.
Suppose Jacobs and Ryder wanted a title shot against the ‘regular’ WBA super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr. (6-0, 5 KOs). They’d likely have no problems getting the fight because the Cuban talent wants to fight the well-known fighters in the division.
Of course, that would be backbreaking work for Jacobs and Ryder to take on the talented Cuban southpaw Morrell, and they’d likely both lose badly. If they wanted to try and fight for a world title, Jacobs and Ryder need look no further than to take on Morrell Jr. for his WBA belt.
Once the World Boxing Association begins reducing the numbers of titles at 168 with their organization, they’ll order Canelo and whoever the ‘regular’ champion is at the time to fight.
This writer seriously doubts Canelo will want any of the smoke from Morrell, so he’ll likely vacate when the WBA eventually orders that fight.
“Sources: Daniel Jacobs and John Ryder have struck a deal for a Feb. 12 fight in London to headline Matchroom Boxing on DAZN. Jacobs is ESPN’s No. 5 super middleweight; Ryder is No. 7,” said @MikeCoppinger.