Ryder ekes out split decision against Jacobs in super middleweight title eliminator

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John Ryder, who has been on the wrong end of disputed decisions, got one back on Saturday with a generous split decision victory over Daniel Jacobs in a WBA super middleweight title elimination fight that headlined a Matchroom Boxing card on DAZN at Alexandra Palace in London.

Fighting in his hometown, Ryder won 115-113 on the scorecards of American judge Mike Fitzgerald and Monaco’s Jean-Robert Laine. British judge Marcus McDonnell scored the fight 115-113 for Brooklyn, New York’s Jacobs. Fight Freaks Unite also had it 115-113 for Jacobs, who was the heavy favorite.

With the win, Ryder put himself in the mandatory position to face the winner of a yet-to-be-scheduled fight between WBA “regular” titleholder David Morrell (6-0, 5 KOs), 24, a Cuban defector fighting out of Minneapolis, and current mandatory challenger Aidos Yerbossynuly (16-0, 11 KOs), 30, of Kazakhstan.

“It feels like a coming out part after 12 years in the game,” said Ryder, who scored by far the biggest win of his career.

Jacobs (37-4, 30 KOs), 35, who was coming off a heavily criticized performance in a split decision win over Gabriel Rosado in November 2020, left the ring immediately after the scores were read.

Ryder (31-5, 17 KOs), 33, won his third fight in a row since a heartbreaking and extremely controversial decision loss to then-super middleweight world champion and British countryman Callum Smith in November 2019.

“John Ryder just beat Daniel Jacobs. Attrition got him through that fight, his desire to win that fight,” said Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, who promotes Ryder and Jacobs. “He’s been on the end of bad decisions. Tonight was a very close fight. It could have gone either way but this one went his way, and I think when you look at back on his career at the times when he might not have got the decision, tonight he deserved the decision, and it’s a massive win for him. I hope he goes and fights for a world title because he really deserves it.”

It was essentially a tale of two fights with Jacobs cruising through the first half of the bout to take the clear lead on two scorecards and then Ryder mounting a second-half surge to pull it out on two scorecards.

There was a lot of holding and not much action through the first half, but Jacobs landed just enough and was busier as he took control.

“It was nip and tuck first couple of rounds. I thought I nicked a few of the early ones,” Ryder said. “I thought it was quite convincing, but I have to go and watch it back and see where I went wrong and me and (trainer) Tony (Sims) will pick the bones out of it for next time.”

Ryder, a southpaw, finally got going a bit in the sixth round and then had a clear advantage in the seventh round when the comeback began in earnest as he landed several clean shots and appeared to buzz Jacobs with a left uppercut late in the round.

“I think just getting the measure of him, looking at him, feeling his power,” Ryder said of his slow start. “He’s been at the world level for a long, long time. He’s been in there with a load of good fighters. Just wanted to see what he had really. And look where we are now.”

Ryder seemed to have Jacobs in a bit of trouble during the eighth round and the ninth round featured good, back-and-forth action as Jacobs switched to a southpaw stance.

“I hurt him in round 8. I feel like I kind of had round 9 off,” Ryder said. “I thought he was going to come and have a big round and I’d be able to step on it in round 10 but he didn’t come out as I thought he would. We got the win. That’s the most important thing.”

According to CompuBox statistics, Ryder landed 135 of 448 punches (30 percent) and Jacobs connected with 123 of 651 (19 percent). Although Jacobs relied heavily on his jab he was ineffective with it, landing just 29 of 365 (8 percent). Ryder wasn’t much better with his stick, landing 14 of 169 (8 percent).

While it was not the most impressive performance, Ryder certainly put himself in position for a bigger fight. Sims and Hearn would love it if Canelo Alvarez, the undisputed 168-pound champion and the pound-for-pound king, called his name.

Alvarez has expressed interest in having a fight in the United Kingdom and they believe Ryder is the logical opponent if he makes the trip.

“Saul (Canelo) obviously wants to fight in the U.K. He’s got his plans prepared and nearly locked in for this year, but I think if he wants to fight in the U.K. he’s got the perfect opponent,” Hearn said. “I don’t see any other super middleweights in the country that have standout victories like that.”

Said Sims, “I’m hoping Eddie can lure Canelo to Wembley Stadium because you know Canelo wants to fight in the U.K. and obviously he hasn’t had an opponent (to fight in England) up until now, but he’s got one now in John Ryder.”

Photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

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