HomeBoxingDaniel Jacobs vs John Ryder: Neither can afford to lose

Daniel Jacobs vs John Ryder: Neither can afford to lose

Daniel Jacobs (37-3 30KO’s) will face John Ryder (30-5 17KO’s) at super-middleweight in the main event on DAZN’s Saturday night card, at Alexandra Palace in London, England.

The American, Daniel Jacobs, failed to make a single appearance in the ring last year in 2021. How will he look after 15 months out of the ring, on Saturday night?
He certainly needs to look much better than he did in his last fight against Gabriel Rosado, back in November 2020. Many people in the sport said Jacobs was lucky to get the nod on the judges’ scorecards.

Daniel Jacobs is a fighter that needs to be highly motivated for his bouts, otherwise, he will perform to a lacklustre standard. However, we have seen how good Daniel Jacobs can be when he is motivated for fights.

“Miracle Man” has fought against the monsters at middleweight in the past and given them a run for their money.

In 2017, Jacobs faced GGG for the WBC, WBA, IBF & IBO world middleweight titles. Though the IBF title wasn’t on the line for Jacobs, as he missed the IBF same-day weigh-in.

Jacobs was knocked down in the 4th round, but he fought back valiantly, eventually losing via a close points decision.

In 2019, Jacobs matched up against the Mexican great Saul Canelo Alvarez for the WBC, WBA & IBF world middleweight titles.

Some fans were split between who won, as Jacobs put on arguably a career-best performance that night. However, Jacobs again lost via a close points decision.

The question is, which version of Daniel Jacobs will we see on Saturday the 12th of February? Because if he is unmotivated for this, then Ryder can win and it’d be a huge setback for Jacobs.

Ryder is really up for this fight. He knows that he needs this win in order to stay in the title picture, and potentially land that fight against Canelo himself.

The Brit in the build-up to this fight has said “the loser is done”, Eddie Hearn is also in agreement with John Ryder over this comment.

“The Gorilla” fought for the WBA & WBC world super-middleweight titles against fellow Brit Callum Smith, back in 2019. However, there was a huge controversy over the fight.

The majority of fans and experts thought that Ryder won quite convincingly. But some extremely questionable scorecards saw Callum Smith retain his titles, in his hometown of Liverpool.

Ryder is now 33, and a loss here will see his title hopes fade away. He is already quite heavily avoided by elite-level 168lbers, due to his tricky southpaw style and very good boxing ability.

Can the London crowd help push John Ryder on to claim victory?

This is simply the last chance saloon for both men. The American is 35, and the Brit is 33. Both men are fan favourites.

You do wonder if a loss to either fighter could see them hang up the gloves after Saturday night. Especially Daniel Jacobs, with a reported $10M net worth, will the fire and hunger still be there if he was to face defeat?

The undercard sees super-bantamweight Ellie Scotney (3-0) face Jorgelina Guanini (9-3-2 1KO) for the vacant WBA intercontinental super-bantamweight title.

Two unbeaten middleweights feature as Felix Cash (14-0 10KO’s) fights Magomed Madiev (15-0-2 4KO’s) for the vacant WBC International middleweight title.

Highly touted unbeaten American middleweight, Austin “Ammo” Williams (9-0 7KO’s) is on the undercard. He will face Javier Francisco Maciel (33-15 23KO’s).

It’s great to see Williams back in action, after taking some time out of the sport due to mental health issues. Hopefully, his story can encourage more young people to speak up and seek help on similar issues.

Britain’s super-bantamweight prospect, Hopey Price (6-0 2KO’s) will face journeyman Ricardo Roman (14-12-3 5KO’s). He will be hoping to make quick work of his man, as he has another fight pencilled in for the 26th of March.

Fan favourite Johnny Fisher (4-0 4KO’s) versus journeyman Gabriel Enguama (10-11 6KO’s).

The card gets underway at 7 PM GMT on DAZN.

By NSBDale

Also, read: Biggest Upsets In Boxing History – Top 5

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