Daniel Jacobs vs. Andy Lee possible for Apr.28 (Spike O’Sullivan doubtful)

Boxingnews24.com

By Tim Royner: Daniel Jacobs (33-2, 29 KOs) and Andy Lee (35-3-1, 24 KOs) could be facing each other on April 28, according to promoter Eddie Hearn. He says that fight is now a possibility for the 30-year-old former WBA middleweight champion Jacobs rather than a match against fringe contender Gary ‘Spike’ O’Sullivan (27-2, 19 KOs) on the April 28th date on HBO Boxing aft the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Lee is a dangerous fight for Jacobs, who has showed problems with his punch resistance in the past. If Lee catches Jacobs with one of his big right hooks, he may knock him out. Jacobs’ promoter Eddie Hearn could be making a mistake in matching him up against Lee.

Hearn initially had been targeting the 33-year-old O’Sullivan for Jacobs to fight on April 28, but that fight doesn’t look like its O’Sullivan impressed a lot of the boxing world with his recent 7th round knockout win over Antoine Douglas (22-2, 16 KOs) on December 16 on the undercard of the Billy Joe Saunders vs. David Lemieux card on HBO at the Place Bell in Laval, Quebec, Canada. Hearn was eager to get O’Sullivan for Jacobs after that fight, but he’s now changed his tune and is interested in matching him against the 33-year-old Lee.

The hard-hitting southpaw Lee is arguably a better fight for Jacobs than O’Sullivan. Lee is more recognizable to the casual and hardcore boxing fans in the U.S, and Jacobs will get more appreciation from the fans if he wins this fight than he would for beating O’Sullivan, who isn’t well known in the States.

Lee hasn’t been all that active in the last 2 years of his career. He fought once in 2017 in beating KeAndrae Leatherwood by an 8 round unanimous decision last March. Lee didn’t fight at all in 2016. Lee lost his WBO middleweight title to Billy Joe Saunders by a 12 round majority decision on December 19, 2014 in a close fight. Lee probably would have won if he hadn’t been knocked down 2 times in round 3. That was a big round for Saunders, who isn’t seen as a big puncher. He caught Lee with a counter right hand and dropped him in the 3rd. Lee didn’t see the punch coming and he was hurt by it. Saunders then knocked Lee down one more time in the round. Lee recouped well and was able to control rounds 5-12 to make it closer than the scores that were handed down by the judges.

Jacobs recently signed with Matchroom Sport promoter Eddie Hearn. It was a strange move for Jacobs to sign with a British promoter, because that doesn’t usually take place. Hearn believes in Jacobs, and he thinks he can turn him into a superstar in the U.S and UK. Hearn is one of the few who believes Jacobs deserved a win in his fight with middleweight champion Gennady ‘GGG” Golovkin last year in March. Jacobs was knocked down by Golovkin, and he didn’t do much in the fight until round 7.

Since signing with Hearn, Jacobs has fought once under his promotional banner in defeating Luis Arias by a 12 round unanimous decision last year on November 11 in Uniondale, New York. That was also Jacobs’ first fight under his new multi-fight contract with HBO Boxing.