By Keith Idec
LAS VEGAS – It’s difficult to dislike Daniel Jacobs.
The courageous cancer survivor is friendly and respectful toward seemingly everyone he meets. The IBF middleweight champion prefers to do his talking in the ring, not during interviews or on social media.
Jacobs understands, though, that he’ll enter enemy territory when he walks into T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night. He’ll encounter thousands upon thousands of adoring Canelo Alvarez fans, throngs of supporters who want nothing more than to celebrate another victory for this Mexican icon on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
That’ll motivate Jacobs even more to pull off what would be considered a mild upset in their middleweight title unification fight.
Before they square off Saturday night, the 32-year-old Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs) will continue to express respect for Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs). The 28-year-old Alvarez also has been respectful of Jacobs.
When asked Tuesday if he feels he has shown too much reverence for Alvarez throughout this promotion, Jacobs disagreed.
“No, no, absolutely not, because I know how to turn it off and on,” Jacobs told a group of reporters following their “grand arrivals” at MGM Grand. “I have a job to do, but I do my job with mean intentions, too. So, when that first bell rings, I’m gonna go in there and try to take your head off. There’s no buddy-buddy. There’s no amigos. There’s none of that. It’s just going in there and taking care of business. But, you know, he also has what I would predict the fans and the crowd on his side. So, for me, I wanna go in there and not only gain a couple fans, but, you know, go in there and do damage in front of his fans. I wanna embarrass him.
“Like I’ve always said, this is the name of the game. This is boxing. Ain’t no buddy-buddy inside that ring. Somebody could go in there and kill you. Somebody can go in there and do real damage to you, to where I can’t go back to my family and have a normal life. I can get really, really hurt. So, I don’t take this thing lightly. I mean, yeah, what you see on the outside is just me being cool and casual. But, you know, at the end of the day, I wanna prove that I’m the best – by being the best version of me, but by doing damage, most importantly.”
Alvarez is listed as about a 4-1 favorite over Jacobs. DAZN will stream their 12-round fight for Alvarez’s WBA and WBC and Jacobs’ IBF middleweight titles.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.