It’s another quiet weekend for boxing, as things won’t really heat up consistently (knock on wood) until after this Saturday, but we do have one intriguing matchup, as Daniel Jacobs faces John Ryder in a 12-round super middleweight main event on DAZN, live from London.
Keith Thurman’s win over Mario Barrios wasn’t unpredictable or anything (though I didn’t predict it, as I am a real gambler, which is a nice word for “dipshit”), and if Daniel Jacobs has also refreshed, recharged, and not gone right to the crapper in his 15 months out of action, I think he wins this fight because he’s a better, more well-rounded boxer than John Ryder.
I do like Ryder, but he hasn’t exactly looked great since his controversial loss to Callum Smith, just as Jacobs hasn’t been outstanding in his last couple.
If Jacobs is back to at least 80% of his top form, I think he wins this fight; it seems a good sign that he’s back with Andre Rozier, and Jacobs says he’s found his spark and balance again as a fighter with that move.
I’m going with Jacobs, but I think the odds are tight for a reason, just as they were with Thurman-Barrios. We simply don’t know for sure what Jacobs is bringing to the ring in this fight. Jacobs MD-12
I can’t help but feel like Daniel Jacobs has largely faded from relevance over the past few years and while he’s certainly past his peak form by now, I still think he’s good enough to beat John Ryder in this weekend’s outing.
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I sort of get the impression that Jacobs is content to tread water from here on out while he cashes a few more checks,
and I think he’s in a comfortable situation with Matchroom to make that happen. The fact is there’s probably not any real big fight out there for Jacobs at this point. And as for Ryder, well,
he’s already shown that he’s hit his ceiling and this level of opposition has proven to be over his head in the past. I don’t expect Jacobs to completely blow Ryder out of the water or anything, that’s not really his style so much, but I do think he’ll take a comfortable decision. Jacobs UD-12
