GOLDEN BOY president Eric Gomez told Boxing News last week that Danny Jacobs will have to get in line for the Canelo Alvarez fight. But that line got slightly shorter when David Lemieux was unable to make weight to fight on the undercard of Canelo’s most recent fight. That seemingly puts Canada’s Lemieux, a Golden Boy promotional stablemate of Canelo’s, down the pecking order when it comes to snaring a contest with the Mexican superstar.
Jacobs, the IBF middleweight champion, is calling for a unification with Alvarez, who holds the WBC and WBA world titles at 160lbs.
“It’s an unfortunate situation [regarding Lemieux]. Obviously as a fighter we do the things that are necessary to make the weight to fight. But it’s dangerous at times,” Jacobs said. “Things like that happen in boxing.
“I wish him the best, it’s an unfortunate situation but if I can take advantage of an unfortunate situation, this is boxing. Sometimes you’ve got to get in where you fit in. For me I took the hard road, I fought the undefeated fighters. I proved myself and to get this opportunity, if it was to happen, it would be deserving in my opinion, although a little luck would go a long way too.”
With the IBF belt round his waist Jacobs maintains he is the most credible opponent for Alvarez to fight on May 4 2019 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “Right now I’m fortunate to be in the position that I’m in. I’m a champion,” he said. “For me that opens a lot of doors in general.”
“I may not be the A-side to a guy like Canelo but I’m a key player in the division,” Jacobs said. “To me it’s the right fight and if I can get that Canelo fight it will take my career to the next level.
“I’m in a good position so I’m excited, I’m anxious. I want this big fight. I want to fight Canelo.”
“What’s understood doesn’t really need to be said. For me I understand Canelo is the A-side because he’s the bigger draw. Regardless if I’m the better fighter or not, he’s the bigger draw. So ultimately he would be the A-side. He’s been champion. He has an incredible resume so he’s rightfully so. But my thing is just as long as I’m treated as champion, I can take the B-side. It’s not a problem,” he explained.
“It would be everything. It would be the closure of my chapter, this movie that I’m putting together in my mind of how my life and career is taking place, it’s incredible. I think if I can get that fight, I truly deep down in my heart feel like I can win, win impressively, decisively, with no controversy. So I’m just waiting till my turn. I’m just patiently waiting but, like I say, I’m in a great position.”
