In a rematch of last year’s controversial second round stoppage and a fight that nobody, except perhaps Sergio Mora’s representatives, thought was necessary, rising middleweight contender Daniel Jacobs wiped out the winner of the first season of The Contender, Sergio Mora, in a one-sided seventh round TKO.
In the first fight, Sergio Mora was felled by a gruesome ankle injury after a surprisingly explosive first round where Mora (28-5-2, 9 KOs) shocked Daniel Jacobs with a legitimate knockdown after getting floored himself. However, the first round of the rematch provided no such fireworks, as Mora clearly wanted no part of mixing it up with the much bigger, more powerful Jacobs (32-1, 29 KOs).
“The Latin Snake” waited on the outside and shadowboxed, trying to fluster Jacobs with his uniquely awkward style and foot speed. The problem was that Mora was landing no punches of his own, as Jacobs probably edged a very dull first stanza.
Despite some obvious personal charisma and more exciting fights on his resume than you would expect, when Sergio Mora wants to stink out a fight, boy, can he stink out a fight. Mora seemed content to do just that for the first few rounds, as Daniel Jacobs appeared tense and overly tentative, perhaps as a result of the surprise knockdown in their first encounter.
However, as Jacobs settled down, the obvious talents that launched him into bluechip prospect status at such a young age became readily apparent. For a man of Daniel Jacobs’ fearsome size and punching power for a middleweight, his closing speed is truly remarkable, as are his overall athletic gifts.
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Once Jacobs was able to time Mora’s awkward patterns and rhythms, he swooped in quickly from a distance and started hammering Mora to the body with powerful straight right hands. Jacobs clearly hurt Mora badly in the sixth round with a devastating body shot that Mora gamely survived, but there was clearly little left in the tank for the challenger at the end of the round.
In round seven, Jacobs wasted little time hunting down the wounded Mora. Although Mora was able to rise each time after the numerous knockdowns inflicted on him in the round, the referee mercifully called an end to the bout. Even the ever-game Mora couldn’t argue with the stoppage, nodding glumly in agreement as he walked back to his corner.
“I have to take my hat off to Sergio Mora,” Daniel Jacobs said after the fight. “There was a lot of talking before this fight, but this is boxing. I respect any man who gets inside of this ring.
“I want to prove to the world that I’m the best middleweight. If GGG gets the victory tomorrow, that’s who we want.”
The young, intriguing Daniel Jacobs seems intent on turning his attention to the true king of the middleweight division: superstar Gennady “GGG” Golovkin. While Jacobs, like any other mere mortal, would enter the ring with GGG as a clear underdog, he likely would represent the most serious challenge to Golovkin’s middleweight supremacy yet.
While there are clear holes in Jacobs’ game, particularly defensively, he has next-level power and foot-speed, and he is the type of all-world athlete that might just be able to genuinely challenge a monster like Golovkin.
(All quotes from Daniel Jacobs were obtained via press release from Swanson Communication.)
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