By Keith Idec
If Daniel Jacobs defeats Sergio Mora again September 9, the WBA world middleweight champion wants to fight Billy Joe Saunders at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in December.
Jacobs had hoped to fight Saunders next, but much to his dismay, Jacobs said Saunders’ representatives didn’t express genuine interest in fighting “Miracle Man.” The 29-year-old Jacobs hasn’t fought since his fantastic first-round technical knockout of Peter Quillin on December 5 at Barclays Center.
“We were getting yanked all around,” Jacobs told BoxingScene.com regarding negotiations for a fight against Saunders. “[Showtime executive] Stephen Espinoza was inquiring on the fight, and talking on my behalf in a sense, trying to get the fight done.
“What he came back and let us know is that they wanted no part [of me] whatsoever. Even though they alluded to it [on social media], they wanted no part. So my thing is, what do I do? Do I just stick around or do I just continue to fight? That’s the reason why we’re fighting Sergio.”
Brooklyn’s Jacobs (31-1, 28 KOs) and Los Angeles’ Mora (28-4-2, 9 KOs) are fighting again basically because Jacobs tired of Mora complaining about the manner in which he lost to Jacobs last August 1 at Barclays Center. Mora dropped Jacobs in the first round of that bout, but Jacobs recovered quickly and knocked down Mora a second time in the second round.
Mora suffered a right ankle injury while falling from the second knockdown and couldn’t continue. The 35-year-old Mora hasn’t fought in the year since Jacobs beat him.
The Jacobs-Mora rematch officially was announced Thursday. It will take place at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania and will be broadcast by Spike.
Meanwhile, England’s Saunders (23-0, 12 KOs) hasn’t fought since he defeated fellow Brit Andy Lee (34-3-1, 23 KOs) by majority decision December 19 in Manchester to win the WBO middleweight championship.
“B.J. Saunders honestly is not gonna have anywhere to run,” Jacobs said. “Him not considering me a true middleweight champion or a top contender, or whatever he wants to classify me as, for him not to classify me as a real champion, it just sucks because even the general boxing public puts me past him in the rankings.
“So, I mean, he has a lot more proving to do than I do. He’s gonna run into a point where he’s gonna have no one to fight. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t wanna fight Triple-G right now. And I’m thinking he’s thinking I might be the easiest out of the two. So come on and try your luck. Whatever it is, let’s just get it on.”
Jacobs wouldn’t specify which December date at Barclays Center has been set aside for his fight following the Mora rematch.
“We already have a date for the Barclays Center in December,” Jacobs said. “So that date is the date that we’re trying to get solidified for B.J. Saunders. I want that title. I want that title and then I wanna go for Triple-G’s title. … Me, personally, I ultimately wanna fight Triple-G. But I’m trying to get these little knuckleheads out of the way before I go to Triple-G for the big megafight.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
