Every Last Fucking Thing You Need To Know About Boxing Going Into Tonight, PLUS Daniel Jacobs Interview
Afternoon, all… It’s FIGHT DAY!
After that Portland vs Denver game took us into the wee hours of the morning, we have a STACKED Saturday for sports fans who were able to catch a nap… 2 NHL Game 5s, an NBA Game 3- Rockets vs Warriors, the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby with a post time of 6:50PM, a handful of MLB games, and the third round of the Wells Fargo Championship from Quail Hollow.
But there’s only one thing my sassy ass will be keeping an eye on…
We FINALLY have a real prize fight worth watching.
Canelo Alvarez (28 yo, 50-1-2, 34 KOs) takes on Danny Jacobs (32 yo, 35-2, 29 KOs) in an effort to unify their three middleweight world titles Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena.
I know there are other intriguing fights on the undercard, and I know Beterbiev is defending his light-heavyweight belt over on ESPN, but I don’t really give a fuck. I want to use this blog as an opportunity to give everyone a chance to learn all about both Alvarez and Jacobs before that opening bell rings around 11:30 PM on DAZN.
Boxing has had a tough time putting together legitimate fights as of late, so this one deserves a special massage. Therefore, I am going to give this bout the old Robert Craft Special, and journalistically jerk it off while simultaneously shoving a confident blogging finger right up its ass… Metaphorically speaking, of course.
I am going to start with Danny Jacobs and a slo-mo GIF where one of his opponents’ faces kinda turns to jelly…
I had the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Jacobs a couple of weeks ago, and he looks to be in the best shape of his life. A point he highlighted in the press conference when he said Canelo hasn’t fought a fighter in his prime since he lost to Mayweather WAAAAAY back in 2013.
Which brings up another jelly-face GIF…
“Let’s put on a good show, my brother.”- is the Jacobs soundbite people have latched onto from the pre-fight interview because it captures the classiness that Danny has.
Outside of that well-publicized presser, Danny said all the right things in our little talk as well. Specifically, he said that I looked good in short sleeved shirts buttoned all the way to the top…
… and he also mentioned that his size and range is the exact formula to stop Canelo at 160 pounds.
That specific weight comment was to cater to the smattering of people who believe Alvarez’s recent jump up to 168 for the Rocky Fielding fight at super-middleweight and now back down to 160 for Jacobs overlooks the fact that Canelo is most effective at neither of those weights. Alvarez is arguably his most deadly at light-middleweight.
It seems like I am splitting hairs here, weight-wise, but think about this… Alvarez has fought in 3 weight classes in just over 2 years, and the quality of opponents at each class has been erratic. Tonight, however, the one thing that will not be erratic is that (even with the rehydration clause) Jacobs will comfortably weigh about 175, and Canelo will not. Danny will also be 4 inches taller.
If it seems like I am trying to manufacture an argument for Danny it’s because I am.
I fucking love Jacob’s story- Brooklyn kid who beat cancer. And as I alluded to earlier, the way Danny conducted himself throughout training camp and every media opportunity this week has shown what a true class act he is.
Wanna know my least favorite thing about Jacobs that I got from our interview?
He converted to veganism before this fight, and we all know how much I hate vegans.
The only outburst throughout this lead-up to tonight was actually at last night’s weigh-in when Canelo got upset after Jacobs pointed out the creepy way Oscar De La Hoya licks his lips… Which apparently made Eddie Hearn very happy.
Conversely, I just don’t like Canelo.
Don’t get me wrong, I respect his abilities and I was a huge fan when he first started to make waves. Particularly, when he rolled off impressive wins vs Kermit Cintrón, “Sugar” Shane Mosley, Josesito López and Austin Trout in 2011 and ’12 before losing the aforementioned majority decision against Floyd in 2013.
But I became soured with Alvarez after the whole “tainted Mexican sausage“-narrative he hid behind before the GGG rematch, and, like many others, I thought the decisions in both of their matchups were questionable, to say the least.
Unfortunately, time continues to be less than kind to GGG, so if we were to see Alvarez vs Golovkin III (assuming GGG wins his June 1st match-up against Canadian no-name, Steve Rolls), I understand it would be either in September or perhaps next spring when Canelo will be 29 and Gennady will be a lot slower at almost 39 years old.
The more boxing blogs I read, the more I see that EVERYONE likes Canelo tonight. He’s a 4-1 favorite and the only pro-Jacobs chatter I saw were the handful of people who think that Canelo will win in what will be yet another controversial decision.
I don’t disagree with that last sentiment, especially since the judges for tonight’s bout are miraculously the same three that gave Alvarez the win in Canelo vs GGG Part II. So if this thing goes the distance, those 3 judges are arguably in Canelo’s corner, meaning Danny can only win with a knockout.
And I also don’t disagree with the pro-Canelo sentiment in general. Alvarez becomes a better boxer with every fight he takes. He has sharper defense than Jacobs, knows how to negate disadvantages in length, and works the body better than anyone I know of.
But I just don’t like the 4-1,
Maybe we have been lulled with recent stinkers like Spence vs Garcia or Crawford vs Khan where the favorite was an OVERWHELMING favorite, but the Tale Of The Tape for this fight has a stat I think people overlook…
Alvarez KO’s opponents an impressive 65% of the time.
Jacobs’ percentage is 81%.
Danny has punching power that Canelo will have to respect, and he knows what’s at stake if this goes to the cards. As he alluded to in our attached interview and countless others, he is not only willing to take chances to get that KO, he is also not being overwhelmed by the size of the stage he is fighting on. Sure Canelo has had more high profile fights, and I concede that Danny doesn’t have the quality wins that Alvarez has amassed, but this isn’t the biggest fight of Jacobs’ life… Not by a fucking longshot.
The fucking guy beat cancer… Osteosarcoma, to be exact- An aggressive cancer in the form of a tumor “the size of a handball” that wrapped around his spine.
And although I will not be shocked if Canelo wins, I am putting my money on the longshot here because he is a great story, a great athlete, and a great person. The type of fighter boxing needs.
I am actually getting more excited than Eddie Hearn in the picture above as I am writing this, so you can tell that tonight I am betting with my heart and not with my head… At 4 to 1, gimme Danny Jacobs all fucking day. I don’t care to make a call about what round, or specific result (decision vs KO). I just want Danny Jacobs to win tonight.
(I know Danny lost this fight to GGG… I just like the way he screamed at him.)
If Alvarez does win, he has designs on going after the fourth belt in the division that would make him the undisputed champion. That would mean a fight with titlist Demetrius Andrade (but I think there is a stronger possibility of that third fight against Golovkin happening before that).
When Jacobs wins, he’ll only be thinking about how he can beat Canelo in the rematch.
And if we get another fucking draw?… I will kill myself.
Enjoy the day… Enjoy the fights.
Take a report.
-Large
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Couple of things to add…
Some things are bigger than sports, so I would also like to wish everyone a Happy May The Fourth Be With You…
Here’s that same image with the Millenium Falcon cropped out…
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I would also like to remind everyone that a new EXTRA LARGE dropped yesterday on Barstool GOLD… It’s the story of when I fucked a guy…
… out of $7,500 for a lunch
On top of the Extra Large stuff, Willie, Francis, and I are also doing a bi-weekly segment on GOLD called Welcome On Back! where we chop up a topic from that morning’s radio right after our show ends.
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Heading over to the Ainsworth Midtown today for the Kentucky Derby if anyone is around.
And if Tacitus wins, I get a $1,000 from twinspires.com… They are running something where you get a free $5 bet using the code BARSTOOL5… Free money if your state regulations apply.
TAR
-L