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Vinny’s Views: Daniel Jacobs Vs Sergio Mora II – The Break Down By the Numbers!

daniel-jacobs-vs-sergio-mora-02-photo-by-naoki-fukudaBy Vinny “Glory Days” Lucci

Just two weeks shy of Gennady Golovkin’s middleweight title defense against IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook on September 10 and the boxing community at large are left wondering aloud why “GGG” is still having difficulty in getting a rival middleweight belt holder to unify against the people’s champion. Enter Daniel Jacobs, WBA middleweight champion who probably makes the best match on paper at 160 pounds after defeating Peter Quillin last December, but you won’t be seeing that match up anytime soon as Jacobs has stated he won’t be ready for that match until the fall of 2017. Sounds pretty much like the same little speech Canelo Alvarez made at the beginning of the summer. At least WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders was original enough to not only boycott a “GGG” fight, he also nixed Gabriel Rosado, Curtis Stevens and Willie Monroe, JR. all past title challengers of Golovkin’s who were tko’d.

Jacobs it was believed, held a more meaningful win with Quillin’s name on his resume than Gennady had with over two dozen title defenses with the assorted belts he carries. Once again not enough was made out of the debacle of Peter dumping his title rather than unifying against the Kazakhstan assassin.

Last August Jacobs defended his real estate against a highly motivated former jr. middleweight champion Sergio Mora. The fight itself was entertaining for two rounds while it lasted boasting knockdowns of each combatant in the opening stanza. At a 1:23 into the fight Daniel caught Sergio with a short right cross while his feet were squared up inside the pocket at close range. Mora was up at the count of one, and was given an 8 count by referee Gary Rosato. Just seconds after the fighters were waived back into action Jacobs foolishly ran at Mora trying to catch up to his adversary while hopefully still on shaky legs. What he got for his fast acting trouble, was a whiplash of a left hook that dropped the champion at the two minute mark making it not only an even stanza but candidate for round of the year. Jacobs arose at the four count, and was given the standard 8 count. As the fighting resumed, it appeared it was the champion whose legs had not yet fully recovered as they traded jabs at the bell.

The second round was contested at the length of a double jab, rather than inside the gates. Both men a tad leery to go to war electing to jab and set up right hand counters instead. Three clinches in the first two minutes were but brief moments of posturing for punching position before being separated by ref. With less than thirty seconds remaining in the round, Jacobs backed his man to the ropes unleashing a five punch combination that produced a reckless knockdown. Mora somehow tumbled laterally over his own right leg that twisted awkwardly beneath him. The fighter bravely rose at the count of four, but was unable to walk let alone continue after the standing eight count. Rosato called the fight with six seconds remaining in the second round.

Immediately after the fight, Mora interviewed in his corner declared he heard his right knee pop, and subsequently broke his ankle. Having fought evenly for most of the bout, he demanded a rematch, citing he was told by ref that accidental injuries before four completed rounds would yield a “no contest.’ The fight was officially ruled a second round technical knockout. Interestingly enough, Jacobs was quoted as saying, “No rematch! No reason for me to go backwards now.”

So for all you fight fans who were hoping to see Golovkin vs Jacobs, will have to sit back a spell and first allow Danny to revisit the crime scene, this time at Santander Arena in Reading Pa. instead of original site of Barclays Center, Brooklyn New York where Mora first gets his chance at revenge, and second shot at the WBA belt. What we’ve already seen actually matched up as well in person as it did on paper, before that leg gave way. Both fighters stand 6 ‘tall, weighing in at 159 and change. Jacobs sporting a record of 31 and 1 with 28 Kos. The lone loss, a fifth round stoppage for vacant WBO belt vs. Dmitry Pirog six years ago. Mora, who owns a two inch reach advantage, is 28 and 4 with 2 draws, and 9 knockouts. The Jacobs fight was the first stoppage on Mora’s ledger which boasts a win/loss by decision to Vernon Forrest, and a draw with Shane Mosley.

This could be an entertaining hard fought strategic battle where both boxers will be less careless and look to use more ring generalship about the four corners, and establish ring supremacy behind stealthy jabs and beautiful pivots in ring center. That is until Danny gets off one good counter right hand over Sergio’s suspiciously low left shoulder and gets the desired effect of a shaky leg or hip wobble. Jacobs like a shark in the water looking for blood will continue to hammer away until those legs of Mora are in full dance mode. It won’t be abundantly clear until ring time if the year layoff has sufficiently healed the right peg or not.

Mora will look to unleash counter hooks, while both men need to test the body more often than they did in first match. Jacobs with more to lose on a body frame better built to carry muscle better suited in the middleweight division will wear his man down and stop him in five or six highly spirited rounds. Should Sergio pull off an upset he will have seriously altered the trajectory of middleweight mayhem next year, unless there is a rubber match. Golovkin is expected to come out of his title defense unscathed, and nowhere else will Mora be able to secure a payday as benevolent as a unification. Should Jacobs the betting favorite (-700) to (+500) win, its more than likely he’ll look to get in at least one more defense before negotiating with Gennady for a November fight. It seems everyone in division has some alternative plans, hoping some lucky fighter catches “GGG” on an off night. Not likely, so expect more of the same.

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