By Ian S Palmer
Former IBF and WBA Middleweight Champion Daniel Jacobs of Brownsville, New York will be taking on England’s John Ryder in Ryder’s hometown of London this Saturday, February 12th. The 12-round super middleweight fight can be seen live in most nations on DAZN. Jacobs last fought in November, 2020 when he edged Gabriel Rosado via a 12-round split decision. Ryder was last in action in August when he stopped Josef Jurko in the fifth round.
Jacobs, who just turned 35 years old, overcame bone cancer a few years ago and climbs into the ring at 37-3 with 30 Ko’s. Jacobs won the vacant WBA Middleweight Title in August, 2014 by stopping Jarrod Fletcher in the fifth round. He defended it four times before losing it to Gennady Golovkin by unanimous decision in March, 2017. Jacobs stopped Caleb Truax in the 12th round in his first title defence in 2015 then stopped Sergio Mora in the second round later later that year before stopping Mora a second time in September, 2016.
In between, he stopped Peter Quillin in the first round. His first career defeat came at the hands of Dmitry Pirog in July, 2010 when he was stopped in the fifth round during a shot at the vacant WBO Middleweight Crown. His last defeat was by unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez in May, 2019 in which he lost the IBF Middleweight crown. He had won the vacant title just seven months earlier by beating Sergiy Derevyanchenko by split decision.
Jacobs is known for his boxing skills, speed and power, but his chin may not be the sturdiest after being stopped by Pirog and dropped by Golovkin. He stands 6-feet-tall with a 73-inch reach and has 186 rounds of experience under his belt since turning pro in 2007 following an excellent amateur career. Jacobs has an impressive knockout ratio of 75 per cent but has gone the distance in six of his last seven fights with two of them being losses. Before Julio Cesar Chavez quit in his corner after five rounds against Jacobs in December, 2019, his last stoppage came in 2016 when he halted Sergio Mora.
The 33-year-old Ryder will enter the ring with a record of 30-5 with 17 Kos. He lost a split decision to Rocky Fielding for the vacant British Super Middleweight Title in 2017 and dropped a unanimous decision to Jack Arnfield for the WBA International Middleweight Crown a year earlier. His only stoppage defeat came to Nick Blackwell in 2015 when he was halted in the seventh round for the vacant British Middleweight Belt.
His first loss was also for the British Middleweight Title and the Commonwealth Championship when he dropped a close unanimous decision to Billie Joe Saunders in 2013. Ryder’s last defeat then came at the hands of Callum Smith by way of a 12-round unanimous decision in November, 2019 in a fight many fans believed he won. That decision was for the WBA Super World Super Middleweight title and the WBC Diamond Super Middleweight Crown.
The southpaw Ryder did manage to win the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Middleweight Title in 2014 when he stopped Theophilus Tetteh in the fifth round. He also won the vacant WBA International Middleweight Belt in 2016 with a unanimous decision over Siarhei Khamitski in 2016. He then won the vacant IBF International Super Middleweight Title with a unanimous decision over Adam Etches in 2017. He’s also stopped Patrick Nielsen, Jamie Cox and Andrey Sirotkin.
Ryder also had a fine amateur career and won a couple of regional titles. He’s just 5-feet-9-inches tall with a 72-inch reach inch so gives up 2.5-inches in height to Jacobs and a minimal inch in reach. He’s boxed 217 rounds since making his pro debut in 2010 and possesses average power with a current knockout ratio of 48.6 per cent. Ryder has been quite competitive in every fight when moving up in class but he just doesn’t have the size to get over the hump in the super middleweight division.
Prediction…
It’s safe to say that Jacobs and Ryder are no longer in their prime. There’s no doubt Ryder will give it his all and should have some good moments. But while he’ll be competitive I think he’ll fall short once again. He’ll need to deal with Jacobs’ speed and power and doesn’t have enough power himself to discourage Jacobs from taking chances. Jacobs has the edge in both a boxing match and a slugfest and should have his hand raised in victory.
