Canelo, Jacobs ready to prove middleweight superiority
Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs are through their final press conference ahead of Saturday’s fight.
Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs met up today in Las Vegas for their final press conference ahead of Saturday night’s fight, which will stream live on DAZN, and both middleweight titleholders sound confident of victory.
Alvarez (51-1-2, 39 KO) is generally a quiet sort, and that was mostly in effect at the presser. “I’m ready to continue writing history like I always have,” he said of the fight, which will unify the WBC, WBA, and IBF titles, three of the four major titles in the sport.
Jacobs (35-2, 29 KO) was a bit more outspoken if not exactly a trash talker.
“I am the best middleweight of my generation,” the IBF titleholder said. “I’ve been saying it for years, and I finally have an opportunity to prove it going against this fine, stellar champion in Canelo Alvarez. You guys are gonna see fireworks, masterful boxing, skills, dedication, persistence, and grit, most importantly.”
Aside from all the usual promoters, managers, trainers, commission executives, venue executives, and whatnot, you had two fighters who have pretty much kept it clean at all times leading up to the fight.
That can be a bit hard to sell, so the hope is that the fight itself is simply good enough to entice fans. It should be — it may not be No. 1 vs No. 2, as the promoters are boasting, but it’s at worst No. 1 vs No. 3, and No. 3 has proven to not be any significant distance behind the lead two already.
The other guy with the top three position — Gennady Golovkin, who has faced both Canelo and Jacobs — was brought up. Jacobs compared preparation between his 2017 fight with GGG and this one.
“Mentally I think Golovkin — he was the most devastating power puncher and the bogeyman of the division,” Jacobs said. “He was a bit tougher to mentally get prepared for, but I think physically this is much harder because Canelo is very agile, loose, and fast. In my opinion, I thought I won the GGG fight, and I assure you I will win this fight with no controversy.”
Alvarez was asked about fighting for a knockout.
“In boxing, anything can happen, including the knockout,” he said through a translator. “If it’s there, trust me, I’m going to go for the knockout. I don’t care if he’s bigger, stronger, smaller, that’s never bothered me. I have the capability and experience to overcome that and more.”
Bad Left Hook will have live coverage of Canelo vs Jacobs on Saturday at 7:30 pm ET.
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