Danny Jacobs v Chris Eubank Jr – A Battle At 160

By Olly Campbell - 04/25/2015 - Comments

Danny Jacobs (29-1, 26ko) is a fighter I’ve come to admire, and after everything the “Miracle Man” has had to endure outside of the ring as a cancer survivor, last night’s impressive victory over Caleb Truax as part of the PBC broadcast from Chicago, was all the sweeter given it was the first defence of the WBA (reg) title he won last time out against Australian Jarrod Fletcher.

For a man who was once told he may never walk again, Jacobs is a fighter in every sense of the word. Last night in Truax, he came up against a hometown fighter who is as durable as they come. And he did the business in style for me. It was a classy performance, that gave Jacobs the valuable rounds under his belt that he so often is denied due to his power. He’d been 10 rounds just the once, 6 years ago against TMT’s Ishe Smith, taking a UD.

The only blemish on the record of Jacobs is a heavy knockout at the hands of Russian Dmitry Pirog (20-0,15ko) in his first world title tilt. There is no disgrace in that loss in my eyes as Jacobs was just 23, and Pirog, who retired an undefeated world champion through injury less than two years later, was a quality operator.

My attention however now is shifting towards a match up between Jacobs, and the WBA (interim) champion, Chris Eubank Jr (19-1,14ko) a match-up that due to their styles would be highly entertaining in my opinion, and thus give us an indicator of who the real heir apparent to Gennady Golovkin’s WBA (super) title really is.

Now, before anybody spits out their coffee, I’m not for one second suggesting either man has a chance against Golovkin, especially now, but in terms of the WBA pecking order a fight between them is the logical progression. If you add in Eubank’s marauding pressure fighting, both men’s punching power and Jacob’s ability to box, switch hit and think through a fight, you have a cracking little contest.

Eubank Jr, who dropped a close SD to bitter domestic rival Billy Joe Saunders last November, bounced back by capturing the WBA (interim) against Dmitry Chudinov in February. It was a dominant performance over a game, yet limited fighter who proved incredibly durable. He makes his first defence of that belt in 2 weeks time against un-remarkable Australian Les Sherrington (357,19kos)

I’m not expecting anything more than a knockout there, and should Eubank do it impressively, the calls for him to face a decent name and test will intensify. He wants the Saunders rematch but Billy Joe is determined to fulfill his WBO mandatory challenge to Andy Lee’s title this summer, so it means Eubank Jr is going to be waiting a while regardless.

If I were him and his team, I would be looking to make a statement against a guy who for all intents and purposes, he is mandatory to. Daniel Jacobs is on the rung directly above Eubank Jr and if the British fighter could claim such a scalp, and the WBA (reg) title in the process, it would give him much more bargaining power with regards to any rematch with Saunders.

It would be a risky fight but when you look at who is around in the upper echelons of 160lb, barring the obvious two (Cotto/GGG) any of the other names should be beatable for the British man. Guys like Lemeiux, N’Dam, Quillin, Lee etc. If his father truly believes all that nonsense about his son beating GGG, then he shouldn’t be fazed by the challenge of Danny Jacobs. And with all the time Eubank Jr has spent in America, out at The Mayweather Gym, among others, the prospect of boxing over there shouldn’t be a problem.

For this writer, Jacobs v Eubank Jr has all the ingredients to be a really good battle at 160lb. And it’s a fight that due to their WBA rankings has a sense of inevitability about it. Neither will want a part of WBA (sup) GGG, and it’s been shown how long a regular champ can “avoid” the super recently by Scott Quigg/Guillermo Rigondeaux down at 122lbs.

If these two got it on next, it would give the winner a credibility boost in the ultimate challenge to Golovkin, Cotto or any of those names at 160 who are just a level above. I really hope it is a fight that we see soon. And provided both keep winning, I can’t see it being too far away.

Thanks for reading. Twitter @Undilutedpoison