Daniel Jacobs and John Ryder agree to February fight!
Former WBA regular and IBF middleweight champion Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (37-3, 30KOs) is set to take on John “The Gorilla” Ryder (30-5, 17KOs) on February 12. The fight will air live on DAZN.
This is essentially a crossroads fight for both men, who hope a win leads to bigger and more lucrative fights; in particular, a world title opportunity. Jacobs, who’s ranked #3 in the WBC, #7 in the IBF and #9 in the WBO, will travel to London for what will be his first fight since wining a split decision against Gabriel Rosado in November of 2020. The Miracle Man, who turns 35 on February 3, is in need of a win to remain relevant. He also needs to show he still remains a viable contender in a loaded super middleweight division. To do so, he needs to win impressively. He’s 5-2 in his last seven fights with the two losses coming to Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin.
For John Ryder #4 in the WBA, #12 in the WBO and #14 in the WBC, this is equally as important a fight. You can argue he’s further down on the totem pole than his American counterpart. Since losing a very controversial unanimous decision to former WBA and Lineal super middleweight champion Callum Smith in November of 2019, he’s fought twice. Once in 2020 and 2021. The hard-luck contender will have even more motivation knowing he has home field advantage heading into this bout.
This pressurized fight will ultimately send the loser reeling backwards in their pursuit of marquee fights. For the winner, they can breath a sigh of relief as they maintain their world title aspirations.
By: Jerrell Fletcher
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