Daniel Jacobs badly wants to send a message to Sergio Mora in their upcoming rematch, so there’s no chance he’s overlooking “The Latin Snake.” At the same time, though, Jacobs would be lying if he said he wasn’t looking ahead to possible future opponents.
A lot of bad blood has built up between Sergio Mora (left) and 160-pound champion Daniel Jacobs in the 13 months since their first meeting. The two will settle their differences in a rematch September 9. (Lucas Noonan/Premier Boxing Champions)
Make that one specific opponent: fellow 160-pound world champion Gennady Golovkin, the man widely regarded as boxing’s current top pound-for-pound fighter.
“We called out Triple G months ago,” Jacobs says of Golovkin. “I truly want that fight, if not by the end of the year then definitely sometime next year. So we’ll continue to build our brand, and then we’ll see what the future holds. But I’m sure we can make [a Golovkin fight] happen. It’s a fight I believe I can be the victor in.”
Ironically enough, Daniel Jacobs (31-1, 28 KOs) and Golovkin will be fighting hours apart next weekend. Jacobs will make the fourth defense of his world title when he takes on former 154-pound champion Sergio Mora (28-4-2, 9 KOs) on September 9 at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania (Spike, 9 p.m. ET/PT).
Golovkin (35-0, 32 KOs) will then seek his 17th consecutive title defense the following day in London against England’s Kell Brook, a 147-pound world champ who is moving up two weight classes for the bout.
While the 29-year-old Jacobs will be pursuing his 12th consecutive stoppage victory against Mora, Golovkin will be shooting for his 23rd straight knockout.
“I believe that everything happens for a reason, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’re both fighting side by side,” says Jacobs, whose current 11-fight winning streak was preceded by his lone career setback, a fifth-round TKO against Dmitry Pirog in July 2010.
“I’m excited to be in this position and to have an opportunity to look impressive with a victory against Sergio Mora, then it will be up to Gennady Golovkin to take care of Kell Brook.”
“ This may be Sergio Mora’s last chance to take my belt and resurrect his dead career. ” Daniel Jacobs
Jacobs, a native of the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York, is coming off arguably his most impressive victory to date, an 85-second stoppage of fellow Brooklynite and former world champ Peter Quillin. That win at Barclays Center in his hometown came four months after “The Miracle Man” got past Mora in the same arena, but not without a bit of controversy.
After each fighter hit the canvas in the first round, Jacobs scored another knockdown late in Round 2. But as Mora fell, his right leg buckled beneath him and he broke his ankle. Mora was able to get to his feet, but the injury prevented him from resuming the bout.
For that reason, the Southern California native contends the fight should’ve been ruled a no contest. However, referee Gary Rosato deemed otherwise, and Jacobs was awarded the victory by technical knockout.
In the 13 months since that initial meeting, there’s been no love lost between Jacobs and Mora, with each man taking shots at the other. Just last week, during a Premier Boxing Champions fight card televised on Spike, Mora claimed Jacobs showed his immaturity in their first meeting by “trying to finish me recklessly,” then added, “we all know that his chin is suspect.”
Jacobs, meanwhile, is fed up with Mora’s trash talk and unwillingness to give him full credit for last year’s victory. And he’s ready to let his fists do the talking.
“This may be Sergio Mora’s last chance to take my belt and resurrect his dead career,” Jacobs says. “It motivates me to know that he’s going to come out and give it his all.
“This might not be the best fight for the fans, and it’s a stay-busy fight for me, but we made our last fight an entertaining one.”
If Jacobs can finish off Mora in convincing fashion this time, it would validate his first victory, and allow the champ to turn his attention to a potential showdown with Golovkin.
“I want to get this fight out of the way and move on to bigger and better things, like Gennady Golovkin,” he says. “We’re two of the best middleweights in the world. Ultimately that’s a fight that we both want and that can be built up to be a top-notch, pay-per-view, superstar quality matchup.
“Within my skill set, I have great speed, ring generalship and power. Those three ingredients to me are enough to beat anybody.”
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