On August 9th the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York
played host to a Boxing card, which was headlined by a tripleheader that may
produce some interesting storylines in the future. Although some might feel the card headlined
by Jr. Welterweight world champions Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson competing
in separate bouts, and top Middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs, fighting for
interim/regular champion status in the WBA’s Middleweight ratings did not provide
much in the way of competition for the aforementioned headliners, it did serve
as a showcase of what might lead to some interesting fights for all three.
The Middleweight fight on this card pitted WBA number four
rated contender Daniel Jacobs facing the number two contender Jarrod Fletcher
in a bout to determine interim/regular champion status in the WBA ratings.
Jacobs was very impressive in this fight as he controlled the tempo of the
fight from the outset and scored knockdowns in rounds one and five to earn a
stoppage in the fifth round.
Jacobs now finds himself as one of three fighters who hold
some form of champion status as recognized by the World Boxing Association
(WBA) in the Middleweight division. The current unified WBA/IBO world champion
is Gennady Golovkin, while Jacobs and WBA number one contender Dmitry Chudinov
each hold interim/regular status. Ironically both Jacobs and Chudinov fought
for their status on the same day as Chudinov scored a third round knockout of
the WBA number twelve rated contender Medhi Bouadla in Crimea, Russia.
Readers may recall following Gennady Golovkin’s recent title
defense over Daniel Geale when I briefly discussed these two fights for
interim/regular status as to whether or not the two fights would lead to the
two winners facing off to determine a mandatory challenger for Golovkin. It
still remains to be seen. Jacobs however, did state after his win over Fletcher
that he would like to face current WBO champion Peter Quillin in what would be
a very interesting fight and an encounter that would generate significant
interest in New York where both fighters are based.
The political landscape of the sport and designations of
interim/regular champion status by the WBA notwithstanding, Daniel Jacobs is
very much a player in a talent stacked Middleweight division and poses an
interesting challenge for anyone in the division whether they be a world
champion or a top contender. With the deep depth that the Middleweight division
has to offer, there are certainly several options on the table for Jacobs going
forward if a fight with Gennady Golovkin or Dmitry Chudinov is not in his
immediate future.
The other potential fight that might be made in the future
coming out of last weekend’s card could be a unification bout between Jr. Welterweight
world champions Danny Garcia and Lamont Peterson. Peterson successfully
defended his IBF world title on this card with a tenth round stoppage of number
thirteen rated IBF contender Edgar Santana. Peterson’s solid attack to the body
and head and higher offensive output were simply too much for the challenger
who could not find a way to nullify Peterson’s consistent pressure and offense.
Despite the “Game” effort of Santana, the fight was justly stopped by Ringside
physician Dr. Bobby Jordan shortly before the conclusion of round ten.
With the win Peterson has now won five out of his last six
fights with a defeat coming at the hands of top contender Lucas Matthysse, who
stopped Peterson in three rounds in a non-title bout last year. Peterson however,
has rebounded from that defeat with two successful title defenses and has now
successfully defended his title three times overall.
Peterson’s counterpart the unified WBC/WBA Jr. Welterweight
world champion Danny Garcia closed the show on this card in devastating fashion
scoring three knockdowns of contender Rod Salka in round two to score the
knockout in a non-title bout. Much as is the case with Daniel Jacobs, there are
several options that could be on the table for both Peterson and Garcia coming out
of this card.
The 140lb. Jr. Welterweight division much like the 160lb.
Middleweight division is a weight class that has plenty of depth with several
names including three-division world champion Adrien Broner, Hank Lundy, Lucas
Matthysse, Humberto Soto, Mauricio Herrera, and Ruslan Provodnikov just to name
a few. In the opinion of this observer however, a fight to further unify the
Jr. Welterweight division between Garcia and Peterson makes sense, with the
recently newly crowned WBO champion Chris Algieri moving up in weight to
challenge Manny Pacquiao for the WBO Welterweight world championship in
November.
Although Jacobs, Peterson, and Garcia were dominant in their
respective bouts last weekend and, despite the opinion of some that perhaps the
fights were mismatches, fight cards that serve as a showcase for world
champions and rising stars can set up potential lucrative fights down the road,
assuming of course that the headliners are successful in winning their bouts.
There is after all a reason why fights take place. Even though there was
nothing that emerged out of this card that would prevent any of the three from
potentially securing big money fights down the road, even when fights are meant
to be a “Showcase” or a “Tune-Up” there is always the potential for an upset.
As I have often said over the years “Anything can happen at
any given time in the sport of Boxing and that is what makes our sport great.”
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison
All Rights Reserved.
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