Canelo Alvarez-Daniel Jacobs (Fight Analysis)
By Ralph Rimpell
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 04 May 2019
On Saturday at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez (51-1-2, 35KOs) the WBC and WBA middleweight champion faces Daniel ?Miracle Man? Jacobs (37-2, 29KOs) the IBF middleweight Champion for supremacy in the 160lbs division. Both fighters thus far have been respectful to one another and there has been no ?trash talking?. In 1985, Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns had genuine bad blood for one another in part because of their ?trash talking? and it was a brutal and exciting fight for as long as it lasted (Hagler literally knocked Hearns out in the 3rd round). So with no ?trash talking? before this fight, what will the boxing fans, occasional fight fans, and those that have been attracted to the fight due to the promotion have to look forward to? The old saying, ?Styles Make fights? has never been more applicable then for Canelo-Jacobs. What does Canelo have to do to secure victory on Saturday night against Jacobs?
Against Jacobs, Canelo is at a disadvantage due to Jacobs?s height and reach advantage. This is nothing new for Canelo as he has fought taller opponents in the past and been successful. Canelo is not the typical Mexican brawler. Canelo has good foot work, good boxing ability, has speed, and can counter punch. Canelo also has a good chin. Canelo has to cut off the ring because Jacobs likes to box and keep his opponents at bay while scoring from the outside. Canelo must use good defense to get in on the inside and score to be effective. Canelo must impose his will on Jacobs and outwork him. Jacobs has been knocked out before early in his career. In order for Canelo to chop this tree (Jacobs) down via KO, he must focus on Jacobs?s body to slow him down before he can go head hunting and possible stop Jacobs late in the fight.
Against Canelo, It?s no puzzle how Jacobs fights. Jacobs is an excellent boxer with an excellent jab and has great foot work. In past fights, Jacob?s usually prefers to use good foot work and his jab while utilizing the entire ring. He must not try to fight ?toe to toe? with Canelo because while Canelo is shorter, he is very strong. He must box but throw all punches with ?bad intentions? hoping that he can eventually wear Canelo down and stop him late in the fight. By fight time, both fighter?s will likely come into this fight between 170lbs-175lbs which will be 24hrs after rehydrating with fluids once they have made the 160lbs middleweight limit. The victor of this fight will likely rank somewhere in the top 5 on the Pound for Pound (P4P) best fighters in the world and can look to a fight with former undisputed and future Hall of Famer Gennady ?GGG? Golovkin (38-1-1, 34KOs) for mega dollars. Canelo has a draw (2017) and a win (2018), while Jacobs has a loss (2017) against Golovkin. Those that watched Canelo?s and Jacobs?s fights against Golovkin could argue that the decisions could have gone either way for Golovkin, Canelo, and Jacobs. After Golovkin, there are other middleweights like interim WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo and WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade. Hopefully, there will be a clear and decisive winner free of controversy on Saturday night so fight fans can see these potential fights. This writer picks Canelo in a very, very close fight. Canelo by Split Decision victory 7-5 (7 rounds Canelo - 5 rounds Jacobs)
***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history.
"I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell
Contact Writer: RLuvsboxing@aol.com
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.
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