By Ian S Palmer
American middleweight Daniel Jacobs will be meeting Jarrod Fletcher of Australia this Saturday, August 9 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York for the vacant WBA title. This is sort of a bogus title fight and it reeks of a grab for sanctioning fees by the WBA since Gennady Golovkin is the organization’s “super” middleweight champion. The winner of this bout between Jacobs and Fletcher will supposedly be in line for a fight against Golovkin. The Jacobs vs Fletcher fight can be viewed on live Showtime in the U.S, on Super Channel in Canada, and on BoxNation in the UK.
The 27-year-old Jacobs will be entering the ring with an impressive 27-1 record along with 24 Kos while the 30-year-old Fletcher is 18-1 with 10 Kos to his name. Since the other middleweight champions at the moment happen to be WBC title holder Miguel Cotto and WBO boss Peter Quillin, this is definitely the best chance for either Jacobs or Fletcher to emerge from the contest as a world champion. They don’t really stack up well against the others. However, a fight against aging IBF Champion Sam Soliman of Australia would be competitive.
Fletcher isn’t an elite boxer by any stretch of the imagination, but he does have some good boxing skills to go along with his average power. On the other side of the coin, Jacobs has better skills, is faster, and has shown above-average power so far in his career. Fletcher prefers to box from the outside and use his jab as a rage finder, but if he’s pressured by Jacobs he’s going to have a hard time of it. Fletcher’s only loss was to Billy Joe Saunders of England, who pressured him all night long.
Jacobs is fortunate to be in the position of fighting for a world title since he’s undergone 25 operations since 2011 to battle against a cancerous tumor on his spine. Jacobs only loss came back in 2010 when Dmitry Pirog stopped him in the fifth round. Since then he’s won all seven of his fights. Jacobs is certainly more skilled than Fletcher, but he hasn’t fought any top-quality boxers in his career unless you consider wins over Milton Nunez and Giovanni Lorenzo to be significant.
The same can be said of Fletcher, who is riding a six-fight winning streak heading into Brooklyn. He’s beaten the likes of Tim Kanofski, Max Bursak, and Randy Suico. So, if you’re wondering how Fletcher and Jacobs got into the position to fight for a world title you’re not alone. Fletcher’s best chance of pulling off a win here is to stay on the outside and jab. However, he’s also going to need a solid chin when Jacobs tags him on it.
Jacobs could have some pressure on him since he’s from Brownsville, just outside of Brooklyn, and the fans will be rooting for him. But there’s going to be a lot of weight on his shoulders from the media, family and friends. In the meantime, there’s no pressure at all on the underdog Fletcher as most fans expect him to lose.
Prediction
While it’s debatable that these two boxers should be facing each other for a world title it could still turn out to be a decent scrap, especially if Fletcher can take Jacobs’ power. If he can’t then it could end any time after the opening bell. Expect to see Fletcher try to box his way to a victory and he could do well in the first few rounds. However, Jacobs should be crowned the new WBA champion by a comfortable decision or stoppage in the second half of the fight.
