Notebook: Re-charged Jacobs back with old team aiming to take Ryder, U.K. by storm

Valdez, Stevenson sign contracts; Gutierrez withdraw from defense vs. Colbert due to Covid-19; Quick hits; Show and tell

Feb 11, 2022

A quick note to Fight Freaks Unite readers: If you have upgraded to a paid subscription, thank you! If you have not, please consider doing so to receive the most content. A paid subscription is also your way of keeping this reader-supported newsletter going and supporting independent journalism.

Former middleweight world titlist Daniel Jacobs needed a spark to get motivated to train and fight again and he believes he found it by taking the show on the road.

Other than a 2010 preliminary bout in Quebec City, Canada, Jacobs has fought his entire career in the United States but had good memories of a trip to box in England as an amateur.

So when manager Keith Connolly brought up the prospect of his ring return taking place in England, Jacobs took it right away and will square off with John Ryder in a WBA super middleweight title elimination fight that headlines the Matchroom Boxing card on Saturday (DAZN, 2 p.m. ET) at Alexandra Palace in London.

“This was an opportunity for me. Once I got a list of opponents to choose from, to come to England was one of them and I jumped right on it,” Jacobs said during the pre-fight news conference on Thursday. “I remember as an amateur I came over here — 17, 18 years old — I had such an incredible experience. I fought in Liverpool, fought in London and those memories live with me up until this day.

“I always wanted to create more memories for myself as a professional and so when I got the opportunity, I jumped right on it because I know the energy and the crowd, the people and fans, just the atmosphere is going to be one to remember. I’m looking forward to Saturday night. I may not have everyone in attendance going for me but it’s nothing I’m not used to. Good or bad energy, it all works for me and motivates me. As long as there’s people cheering, enjoying both of us putting our lives on the line, then I know I’m doing my job.”

A capacity crowd of about 7,000 is expected and that is music to Jacobs’ ears. When he last fought it was a less-than-stellar performance in a debatable split decision win over major underdog Gabriel Rosado at the Hard Rock resort in Hollywood, Florida, where fans were not permitted due to the coronavirus pandemic in November 2020.

Jacobs (37-3, 30 KOs), 35, of Brooklyn, New York, took a lot of criticism for his performance against Rosado and took some time off to re-charge his batteries. Having a crowd to perform for is something he is looking forward to.

“I’m looking forward to an amazing atmosphere,” he said. “To go from fighting Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in Phoenix (in December 2019) with a sold-out crowd to an empty arena where I can hear a pin drop, it’s kind of an awkward situation. Ultimately, it’s up to me to overcome and it wasn’t the best performance, but I look forward to overriding that last performance with this one.”

Connolly thought making the trip across the pond to face England’s Ryder (30-5, 17 KOs), 33, who is aiming for his third win in a row following a heavily disputed decision loss to then-super middleweight champion Callum Smith in November 2019, was the perfect scenario for Jacobs.

“When (Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn) brought up this fight to us and said it would be in England, we weren’t hesitant at all, we were excited,” Connolly said. “We jumped at the opportunity and love the fans here. It’s one of the reasons we came over. Danny and I have been talking for about five years about coming over here to fight because of the fans. We love the country, the fans. We’re excited for Saturday night.”

Jacobs, going into his third fight since moving up to the 168 pounds, is also aiming to shake off the stink of the Rosado performance and put himself in position for a possible title shot.

“John Ryder is a motivated fighter,” Jacobs said. “He understands the risks and tasks at hand. I’m looking forward to doing my job as well. I’m a decorated fighter. One bad performance doesn’t define my career. This whole notion of my career is done if I don’t win, I get that the importance of this fight is to put us back into title contention.

“My career is far from over. I have a lot more that I want to continue and accomplish, I want to be able to have that Hall of Fame talk that me and my trainer have always talked about since we laced the first pair of gloves in my first professional fight. I understand the importance of this fight and to put me back into position which I want to create history.”

Jacobs is also back with longtime trainer Andre Rozier and assistant Anthony Irons, whom he split with for the Rosado fight.

“I’m back to where I need to be mentally and I realize that now coming back with my old trainer Andre Rozier and Anthony Irons things are where they need to be,” Jacobs said. “I was missing that good spirit that I once had in my career, and now it’s back and I’m looking forward to presenting it and giving the fans a good show.”

Signed, sealed, delivered

Junior lightweight world titleholders Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez, both also former featherweight titleholders, have put pen to paper and signed for their highly anticipated 130-pound unification fight, which has not been formally announced but is slated to take place on April 30 (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Three weeks after Fight Freaks Unite broke the news that the bout was in the process of being finalized, it now is.

Valdez signed his contract this past Saturday with manager Frank Espinoza posting to social media, “Oscar Valdez has signed the fight for Shakur Stevenson. Just waiting on Stevenson to do his part and sign off.”

Stevenson took care of his business on Wednesday and posted to his social media, “Contract signed. Just tune in April 30th and watch me work now.”

Both fighters posted photos of their contract signing.

The date is significant to ESPN because it will televise the annual NLF Draft, which will take place in Las Vegas, from April 28 to April 30, and it wants another notable event on the same weekend in the same city like it does each year when it has Top Rank put on a boxing event at Madison Square Garden in New York to immediately follow its broadcast of college football’s annual Heisman Trophy Award show, which also takes place in New York.

Stevenson (17-0, 9 KOs), 24, a southpaw from Newark, New Jersey, and 2016 U.S. Olympic silver medalist, claimed the vacant WBO interim title by shutout decision over South Africa’s Jeremia Nakathila on June 12 in Las Vegas and then turned in a brilliant performance to take the full title from Jamel Herring by one-sided 10th-round knockout on Oct. 23 in Atlanta.

Valdez (30-0, 23 KOs), 31, a 2008 and 2012 Mexican Olympian, was a big underdog but dominated and spectacularly knocked out Miguel Berchelt in the 10th round on Feb. 20 in Las Vegas to win the WBC title. He won a disputed decision in his first defense against amateur rival and 2016 Brazilian Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceicao on Sept. 10 in Tucson, Arizona, where Valdez grew up.

Gutierrez out of Showtime fight

Junior lightweight titlist Roger Gutierrez has come down with Covid-19 and withdrawn from his WBA mandatory defense against Chris Colbert, Gutierrez promoter Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions told Fight Freaks Unite on Thursday.

Gutierrez (26-3-1, 20 KOs), 26, of Venezuela, was due to make his second title defense against Colbert (16-0, 6 KOs), 25, of Brooklyn, New York, in the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Showtime on Feb. 26 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.

According to Showtime, the network and PBC are seeking a replacement to face Colbert.

“Gutierrez has been here in Los Angeles since early December. He’s been getting ready for the fight and just a couple of weeks before the fight he gets Covid,” Gomez said. “We’re talking about rescheduling it for a couple of months later. The WBA and PBC have been informed that he’s out and has Covid. We’re trying to work with Tom Brown (promoter of the card) to see when we can reschedule the fight.”

The other fights on Showtime are a 10-round junior welterweight fight between 2016 U.S. Olympian Gary Antuanne Russell (14-0, 14 KOs), the younger brother of former featherweight titlist Gary Russell Jr., and former titlist Viktor Postol (31-3, 12 KOs) and IBF junior bantamweight titlist Jerwin Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KOs) defending against Fernando Martinez (13-0, 8 KOs) in the opener.

Quick hits

Probellum announced it has rescheduled the fight between WBO bantamweight titlist John Riel Casimero (31-4, 21 KOs), 32, of the Philippines, and former titleholder Paul Butler (33-2, 15 KOs), 33, of England, for April 22 at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England. It was initially scheduled for Probellum’s inaugural card Dec. 11 in Dubai, but the day before the fight Casimero had to go to the hospital with gastritis. Probellum, which promotes Butler and had won the rights to the bout at a purse bid, had the option to reschedule the bout and has. Also due to appear on the show is former secondary super middleweight titlist Rocky Fielding (29-2, 17 KOs), who has won two fights in a row since Canelo Alvarez blew him away with body shots in the third round in December 2018.

The junior middleweight fight between rising contender Magomed Kurbanov (22-0, 13 KOs), 26, of Russia, and former world titlist Patrick Teixeira (31-2, 22 KOs), 31, of Brazil, has been rescheduled and will take place March 26 in Kurbanov’s hometown of Ekaterinburg, Russia, on the same card as Ryad Merhy’s WBA secondary cruiserweight title defense against Evgeny Tishchenko, also of Ekaterinburg. Kurbanov-Teixeira was originally scheduled for Dec. 11 on the Dmitry Bivol-Umar Salamov undercard, also in Ekaterinburg, but it was called off with the fighters already in their dressing rooms warming up when Kurbanov became ill with a fever. Teixeira arrived in Las Vegas this week for his training camp.

Show and tell

It is the most famous upset in boxing history and one of the greatest upsets ever in sports. I am, of course, talking about Buster Douglas’ shocking 10th-round knockout of Mike Tyson on a quiet Tokyo morning — to allow for a live prime time HBO broadcast in the United States — to win the undisputed heavyweight championship. Decades later it remains the standard by which all upsets are measured against. The 42-to-1 underdog Douglas, who was expected to last maybe a minute or two, instead outfought and outboxed a distracted Tyson in dramatic fashion in a memorable fight. Douglas, whose heart was rightfully questioned in other fights, was clearly winning but had to survive an eighth-round knockdown and the post-fight nonsense of a supposed long count that was nothing other than promoter Don King trying to cheat Douglas out of the title and have it given back to Tyson. Douglas rebounded from the knockdown, closed Tyson’s eye and knocked him out two rounds later to strip him of the championship and his unbeatable aura.

That epic fight was on Feb. 11, 1990 — 32 years ago today. There are three different site posters from the fight and over the years I have acquired each of them. They are somewhat difficult to locate and when you can find them they are tough to get in nice shape. They also are not cheap. This is the main poster advertising the bout in my collection and it’s in very nice condition. Last year, I wrote a piece about Douglas’ upset on the 31st anniversary of the fight and showed several items from it in my collection. Read the piece by clicking on this sentence.

Jacobs photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing; Valdez and Stevenson photos: Top Rank Twitter

To upgrade your subscription please go here: https://danrafael.substack.com/subscribe

Fight Freaks Unite