With the big rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury looking very much like a no-show this year (it might still happen in the final quarter of this year but fans are not exactly holding their collective breath) and with a massive showdown between either Wilder or Fury against Anthony Joshua looking equally doubtful, it’s probable the May 4 clash between middleweights Canelo Alvarez and Danny Jacobs will prove to be the biggest fight of 2019.
It’s big because Canelo is, the heavyweights aside, the biggest star in boxing, the May 4 fight is big because it’s a unification fight, and it’s big because it could prove to be one of the toughest fights yet for Canelo – and to top it all off, the fight will take place over the huge Mexican celebration that is Cinco de Mayo weekend.
And Jacobs, a huge middleweight, is talking big going into the battle. The press tour has been respectful yet quite tense and both men have avoided trash-talk yet given bold predictions – Jacobs especially. “The Miracle Man” has stated that he is certain he has what it takes to be able to take Canelo out, to stop him, to knock him out. That of course would be a huge sensation, but some fans along with a few experts feel Jacobs is indeed capable of doing it. Or might Canelo be the man who scores a KO?
Canelo has shown a rock chin and it’s hard to recall him ever being wobbled or visibly shaken or stunned. It would take a perfect shot, or shots from Jacobs to score the shocker. Jacobs has a good chin himself, as he showed in his closer than close decision loss to common opponent Gennady Golovkin. In fact, you have to go right back to 2010 and his fight with Dmitry Pirog (a man many had huge GGG-like hopes for until Pirog seriously injured his back and had to call it a career) to find the sole time Jacobs was stopped.
The bad news for Jacobs, if he believes in omens, is the fact that this 5th round stoppage loss took place in Las Vegas. The last time he fought in Vegas, the site of the Canelo fight, Jacobs was beaten, KO’d. It probably doesn’t mean too much, but we have seen Jacobs get taken out and we have never seen this happen to the flame-haired Mexican. It is of course entirely possible the May 4 fight goes down to the wire, to the score-cards, and it could be close, close, close.
Either way, it promises to be a fine fight; maybe the best of the year along with the biggest. Canelo has to be commended for taking this, a risky fight, while Jacobs too is deserving of admiration for always seeking out the toughest fights. Will it be bad memories of Vegas for Jacobs, or will the New Yorker silence the large Mexican contingent in Sin City?