Jacobs: I’m not in control of who I face!

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    Daniel JacobsDaniel Jacobs (29-1, 26 KO’s) will defend his WBA World middleweight title against former light-middleweight champion Sergio Mora on August 1st at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York.

    The Brooklyn borough has been his home and a happy hunting ground. Jacobs told World Boxing News that he is glad to be back again against a skilled veteran of Mora’s quality and could conceivably grab his tenth stoppage in a row here in his second appearance with the belt.

    “I’m excited to have an opportunity to be back at Barclays Centre a second time around as a champion. It’ll be against the most experienced guy I’ve faced thus far. I’m looking forward to testing my challenge against this slick, crafty veteran in Sergio Mora.”

    “He’s been in this position before. So, he’s already accustomed to being in this position and being an underdog but I can’t take him lightly even though he will be an underdog and even though people will pick me as a favourite to win. I’m looking at him as the most devastating opponent that I’ve had thus far coming up to middleweight.”

    That distinction must go to Dmitry Pirog, who short-circuited Jacobs in 2010 with an earth-shattering right hand in the fifth round to hand the American his first professional loss.

    Prog has since been lead into obscurity by injury while Jacobs overcame an almost fatal battle with cancer.

    He re-emerged in 2012, and nobody has heard the final bell against him since, although the opposition has been a cut or three below world class, something Jacobs felt the need to address.

    “I’ve learned since my return back. I’ve got a lot of criticism on my position – why I’ve been facing people who wanted me to step up, people who wanted me to get in position to fight who they want me to fight. I’m passed that point. Now what I care about – well, not to the extent where I don’t care about what the fans think but, if you support me, I look at it as, you understand the process, you understand that it’s not going to come when you wanted to come and if you’re a fan of the sport and if you’re a fan of myself, then you just go along with the journey.”

    “I want to step up. I want to be able to get in there with the best of the best. But obviously, with everything going on in the sport of boxing right now, I’m not really in control of certain things, you know. I may control who I step in there with but to a certain degree. So I really don’t tend to get into things like that. I do what I do. I stay ready. As a champion, I conduct myself inside and out of the ring. Whoever I’m in there with I give my best. If you are a fan of the sport, then you’re going to like the fights regardless. It’s all about putting on a show. That’s what I’ve been doing – I felt like I’ve been put in good fights.”

    Only the biggest stars with the most domineering presence have the luxury of picking exactly who they fight and as Jacobs alluded to here, he has a modicum of input into the process, but ultimately his career is steered by others nearby.

    The biggest fights would mean unifying against the other champions in the division. The winner of Andy Lee vs. Billy Joe Saunders will emerge with the WBO belt in September while WBC champion Miguel Cotto and Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez endeavour to finalise the Latino equivalent of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao for sometime in November.

    WBA Super champion Gennady Golovkin (33-0, 30KO’s) is always on the lookout for a willing dance partner and the fact they hold belts under the same sanctioning body would go some ways to ease the sometimes bumpy political path that leads to a fight.

    Golovkin has been touted for the winner of Cotto-Alvarez, but his active schedule would allow for a bout in the interim.

    Jacobs should deter Mora’s challenge and do so well within the comfort of his own abilities. Mora’s ledger is impressive enough and he holds no notable power in either hand; a credible name with few real threats.

    Mora, along with Caleb Truax, is Jacobs’ most challenging outing since he returned, but further progressions will need to be made if he is to warrant the respect he wants at the moment.