Hearn expects Canelo vs. Jacobs negotiations to start next week

By Scott Gilfoid: Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn says he believes negotiations will start next week with Golden Boy promotions for a fight between Saul Canelo Alvarez and IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs for May 4 on DAZN at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hearn says DAZN wants the Canelo vs. Jacobs fight NEXT, and then they want Alvarez to face Gennady Golovkin after that.

Despite banging the drum 24/7 in urging that Canelo face Jacobs next for the sake of the boxing fans and DAZN, there’s surprisingly little interest from people in wanting to see the Canelo-Jacobs fight. No one is excited about seeing Canelo fight Jacobs except Hearn. There’s more interest from boxing fans in a fight between Canelo and Callum Smith than there is in a fight between Canelo and Jacobs. The difference is Callum is considered the best fighter at 168. You can’t say the same thing about Jacobs being the best fighter at 160. As such, Canelo gains more respect from boxing fans if he beats Smith than he will in defeating Jacobs, who was beaten just last year by GGG.

Canelo, 28, just finished smashing Hearn fighter Rocky Fielding (27-2, 15 KOs) to take his WBA ‘regular’ super middleweight title last Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York. Now Hearn wants Canelo to fight another one of his fighters in Jacobs. It doesn’t end there. After Canelo faces Jacobs, Hearn is interested in having the Mexican star face Callum Smith at some point in the near future. Smith is promoted by Hearn.

Golden Boy Promotions has not yet said who Canelo will be fighting next on May 4. Hearn is pushing very hard for the Canelo vs. Jacobs fight by mentioning it every chance he can get, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Canelo and Golden Boy Promotions will make a selection for what’s best for them. Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs) might not be the one they want. There are a lot of different options available to them besides the New Yorker Jacobs.

“Canelo molded into 168 and looked strong,” Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn said to IFL TV about Alvarez’s fight last Saturday night against Rocky Fielding. “I still think middleweight is his weight, but I think he’s going to be very difficult to beat at 168 and 160,” Hearn said.

After the way Canelo dispatched Fielding at 168, the 160 pound weight class might not be the Mexican star’s best weight class after all. Canelo looked a lot more powerful than normal with him not having to drain down to 160. Canelo’s strength was much better at 168, and he was hurting Fielding with every punch. Canelo looked better at super middleweight than he had in his recent fights against Gennady Golovkin. Of course, it makes all the sense in the world for Hearn to plant the idea that Canelo is a better fighter at 160, as it would help increase the chances of a fight between him and Jacobs. Canelo facing Jacobs will bring in a lot of money to Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing USA promotion.

If Canelo doesn’t take the fight with Jacobs, then it’ll leave Hearn in the position to where he’ll need to try and coax Golovkin to fight Danny again. GGG already beat Jacobs by a 12 round decision in 2017, so there’s no upside for the Kazakhstan fighter in making that fight again. Jacobs spent most of the fight running from Golovkin. After the contest was over, Jacobs took the loss hard, saying that he thought he should have won. It didn’t look that way from the overall boxing fans perspective.

The other option for Jacobs is interim WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo. Hearn hasn’t shown a desire in making the Jacobs vs. Charlo fight in the past. It’s not a good fight for Jacobs, as he barely beat his last two opponents Sergiy Derevyancnenko and Maciej Sulecki. The way that Jacobs looked in those two fights, he’s lost something from his game since his fight with Golovkin. Jacobs looked depleted, and not fighting at the same level he was at when he beat Sergio Mora and Peter Quillin. Those guys aren’t major talents, so it’s possible that Jacobs only looked good aginst them because they weren’t great fighters.

“I don’t think at Wembley,” Hearn said when asked if Canelo vs. Callum Smith is possible for Wembley Stadium in 2019. “I think Golden Boy might have said it. There’s only one date available at Wembley, and that’s April the 13th. But Canelo vs. Callum Smith could be a big fight, particularly in the UK. Anfield [in Liverpool, England] would be amazing,” Hearn said.

There’s little chance Canelo will go to Anfield to fight Callum Smith in front of an audience of 54,000 boxing fans. With the higher ticket prices in the States, Canelo can make good money fighting Callum over there rather than fighting in his backyard in Liverpool. Hearn would obviously love for Canelo to fight Callum in Liverpool, but it’s not going to happen. Golden Boy wants Canelo vs. Smith at Wembley Stadium in London. Since the only date available in 2019 is the April 13 fate held by Anthony Joshua, then it looks like Callum will be out of luck as far a Canelo fight in 2019. Smith can always agree to come over to the United States to fight Canelo in New York or Las Vegas, but it’s unlikely that Hearn would want to put the fight together under that scenario.

“Probably not,” Hearn said when asked if Canelo would agree to fight Callum Smith in the UK. “He’s [Canelo] going to fight May the 4th in Las Vegas, and I think it’s going to be Danny Jacobs. I think that’s the best fight in the middleweight division outside of another Golovkin fight. Danny Jacobs is the IBF world champion. It’s a unified world championship fight, and I think it’s a great fight. That’s the one we’ll be trying to make happen on May the 4th. I believe DAZN wants the fight, and I think in the next week or so we’ll start negotiations. I think from DAZN’s perspective, DAZN would want Canelo-Jacobs, and Canelo-Golovkin. They’re the two fights. If he [Canelo] does that, fair play to him. I think the ideal move for Canelo, DAZN, for us, and for boxing fans is Danny Jacobs and then Gennady Golovkin. But I believe Danny Jacobs can beat Canelo. I really do. So, we’ll see if they make the fight. It’s a great fight,” Hearn said.

Canelo vs. Jacobs is a good fight, but not the best in the middleweight division like Hearn is talking about. A better fight would be a trilogy match between Canelo and GGG, and Canelo vs. Jermall Charlo. Those are great fights for Canelo if he returns to the middleweight division. Even if he doesn’t, they’re still great fights.

It would be good to see Jacobs try and avenge his loss to Golovkin rather than pushing for a fight with Canelo.