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By Keith Idec - Danny Jacobs accepts that he won’t be considered a legitimate middleweight champion even if he defeats Dmitry Pirog on the Juan Manuel Marquez-Juan Diaz undercard tonight in Las Vegas.
The talented, undefeated contender from Brooklyn doesn’t necessarily agree with how he knows he’ll be perceived, yet he clearly recognizes that this wasn’t his preferred path to a world title.
He and Pirog will square off for the WBO’s 160-pound crown only because the Puerto Rico-based sanctioning organization stripped Sergio Martinez. With or without the WBO title, the Argentinean southpaw is generally regarded as the middleweight champion after impressively out-pointing Kelly Pavlik three months ago in Atlantic City.
But Jacobs believes he is ready, just 2˝ years into his pro career, to beat any middleweight in the world, including Martinez.
“I think it would discredit a lot of people for me to call myself a ‘paper champion,’ ” Jacobs said. “So I definitely will consider myself a champion. And like I’ve said before, if I had an opportunity to take it from Sergio, that’s what I would do.”
A Jacobs-Martinez matchup might not be too far off, especially when you consider the difficulty HBO Sports executives have had putting together a Paul Williams-Martinez rematch and the dearth of marketable American boxers in the middleweight division. First, however, Jacobs must succeed tonight in what should be considered almost as much of a step up in competition for him as it is for Pirog. [Click Here To Read More]
The talented, undefeated contender from Brooklyn doesn’t necessarily agree with how he knows he’ll be perceived, yet he clearly recognizes that this wasn’t his preferred path to a world title.
He and Pirog will square off for the WBO’s 160-pound crown only because the Puerto Rico-based sanctioning organization stripped Sergio Martinez. With or without the WBO title, the Argentinean southpaw is generally regarded as the middleweight champion after impressively out-pointing Kelly Pavlik three months ago in Atlantic City.
But Jacobs believes he is ready, just 2˝ years into his pro career, to beat any middleweight in the world, including Martinez.
“I think it would discredit a lot of people for me to call myself a ‘paper champion,’ ” Jacobs said. “So I definitely will consider myself a champion. And like I’ve said before, if I had an opportunity to take it from Sergio, that’s what I would do.”
A Jacobs-Martinez matchup might not be too far off, especially when you consider the difficulty HBO Sports executives have had putting together a Paul Williams-Martinez rematch and the dearth of marketable American boxers in the middleweight division. First, however, Jacobs must succeed tonight in what should be considered almost as much of a step up in competition for him as it is for Pirog. [Click Here To Read More]
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