By: Hans Themistode
Daniel Jacobs admitted that he was disappointed in his performance in his last ring appearance against Gabriel Rosado. While Jacobs was tabbed and expected to walk right through his man, he struggled throughout before eking out a close split decision victory.
With Jacobs taking a bit of time off to reset, the former IBF middleweight champion claimed that he was both mentally and physically prepared to make a statement against John Ryder. However, following 12 rounds of mostly mundane action, Jacobs found himself on the wrong end of the scorecards.
Jacobs came out fired up as he made his ring walk, while Ryder’s fans rained boo’s upon the foreigner. Before the opening bell rang, Jacobs stood in the center of the ring and waited for Ryder to meet him there. Although Jacobs came meaning business, he quickly retreated the moment the first round got going.
The Brooklyn native boxed on his back foot and appeared content with landing one shot at a time. Ryder though, knew good and well that he had to get on the inside. With each attempt, however, Jacobs simply stuck a strong jab directly in his face then slipped out of the way of Ryder’s return fire.
It was much of the same in the second period. Jacobs glided effortlessly from orthodox to southpaw, leaving Ryder bemused by what was taking place in front of him. There was no sense of urgency from Jacobs, even after he connected on numerous unanswered shots.
In rounds three and four, Ryder placed his hands up high and marched forward. Jacobs though, continued to move around the ring smoothly. He pumped out his ever-consistent jab but it bounced meaninglessly off the gloves of the British warrior. A consistent attack to the body pushed Jacobs back into the ropes but the former titlist dealt with the pressure of the rough and rugged contender just fine.
As the midway point of their contest came rolling by, a smiling Jacobs waltzed to the center of the ring. However, moments later, Ryder gave him nothing to smile about. Several right hands by the shorter 168 pound contender caught the attention of Jacobs. Seemingly, with the moment in his corner, Ryder continued to push the pace in the seventh.
The once quick feet of Jacobs appeared to be moving in quicksand as he was unable to hit and move like he once was in the first few rounds. Ryder attacked the midsection, landed straight lefts, and physically leaned on Jacobs over and over again.
On wobbly legs and a bruised right eye, Jacobs was no longer fleet of foot. He stood his ground against the ropes and fought on the inside, something that Ryder accepted with open arms. For the duration of their contest, Ryder dictated the pace and forced Jacobs to fight uncomfortably.
Seemingly stunned on several occasions, Jacobs did manage to make the final bell with relative ease. But, despite doing so, Jacobs was none too pleased with the final decision. Judge Marcus McDonnell believed Jacobs did just enough to leave the arena with his hand raised in victory, scoring it 115-113 in his favor.
Ultimately, McDonnell was overruled by Mike Fitzgerald and Jean-Robert Lane, who scored it 115-113 in favor of Ryder. An elated Ryder jumped into the air the moment the decision was made, officially securing the biggest victory of his career.