By Ian S Palmer
WBA Middleweight king Daniel Jacobs of Brooklyn will be taking on fellow middleweight Caleb Traux of Minnesota at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois this Friday, April 24 as part of the Premier Boxing Champions TV series. The 12-round bout can be seen in the U.S. and Canada on Spike TV. The 28-year-old Jacobs enters the ring with a record of 28-1 with 25 Kos while the 31-year-old Traux is unbeaten in his last eight outings and has a mark of 25-1-2 with 15 Kos. His only defeat came at the hands of former two time middleweight champ Jermain Taylor by a unanimous 10-round decision more than three years ago while Jacobs’ lone loss was against Dmitry Pirog when he was stopped in five rounds in 2010.
Jacobs has exceptional power and enters the bout with a knockout percentage of 86 percent while Traux’s is 54 per cent. Jacobs also has the advantage in height as he’s 6-feet-1-inches tall while Traux is six feet. However, there’s no reach advantage as they both have wingspans of 73 inches. Jacobs has stopped his previous eight opponents and is looking to make it nine straight against Traux, who recently left his day job at a liquor store to concentrate on boxing fulltime. Jacobs’s biggest win so far though as come against cancer as he was diagnosed with the a rare form of the life-threatening disease a few years ago and has won six bouts since.
Jacobs has hired a strength trainer for this fight, but it may be a questionable move since there’s no need to fix something that isn’t broken. The New Yorker won his title last August by stopping Jarrod Fletcher in the fifth round for the vacant title. Jacobs made his pro debut in December of 2007 and has boxed 87 rounds since then. He hasn’t really faced any A-list opponents as of yet though and that trend will continue against Traux. His most recognizable opponents have been Ishe Smith, Pirog and Fletcher.
Traux has boxed 174 rounds since turning pro in 2007 and he hasn’t really fought anybody of note as of yet other than Taylor. His draws came against Ossie Duran in and Phil Williams in 2011. He has fought a few of other good pros in Antwun Echols, Matt Vanda, Don George and Derek Ennis. Traux will be in tough against Jacobs since the champion also has speed and boxing skills to go along with his power.
Prediction
To be a good world champion Jacobs needs stiffer tests than the hard-working, but limited Traux. He’s a good boxer with power and speed, but has to face some legitimate top-10 contenders to be taken as a serious threat in the middleweight division. Traux will put in a good effort here, but Jacobs will retain his title and likely by a stoppage.
