Former IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs will be making his highly-anticipated super-middleweight bow against Julio Cesar Chavez Junior in Tucson, Arizona.
‘The Miracle-Man’ will unquestionably be looking to return with a vengeance after his middleweight unification loss to Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez in May.
After making an uncharacteristically slow start, Jacobs worked his way back into the fight but this was ultimately insufficient to overturn the deficit on the scorecards, losing narrowly on all three tallies.
Fans of Jacobs will be hopeful that the move up a division has reinvigorated him somewhat, as he pursues world championship glory in a second weight category.
Standing in his way – at least for the time being – is Chavez Junior, someone who has certainly had a respectable career in spite of not fufilling his early promise by replicating his famous father’s legendary accomplishments in boxing.
Chavez Junior reigned as the WBC middleweight champion, defeating opponents like Andy Lee and Brian Vera (albeit controversially), before he was resoundingly outclassed by Argentine southpaw Sergio Martinez in 2012.
His career stalled somewhat throughout the next couple of years, as a mooted showdown with emerging superstar Gennady Golovkin fell through, before an ill-fated move up to light-heavyweight resulted in him being stopped by Andrzej Fonfara in nine rounds.
An unexpected return to super middleweight to face compatriot Canelo Alvarez in May 2017 was similarly fruitless, as Chavez was also soundly outpointed in a thoroughly one-sided affair.
The bout with Jacobs therefore offers a certain degree of redemption for the Mexican who has been embroiled in numerous out-of-the-ring controversies alongside some of his disappointing career setbacks.
However, all things considered, it is a reasonable to believe that a motivated and inspired Chavez Junior – at this stage – would not be too much of a difficult proposition for Jacobs to overcome.
Expect Jacobs superior athleticism and skillset to be evident from the outset, as he immediately puts Chavez Junior onto the defensive with his accurate and powerful punching before pummelling him into submission in the middle rounds, thereby sending out a statement on his 168lbs bow.
Article by: Navi Singh
Follow Navi on Twitter at: @DarkMan________