Daniel Jacobs has a penchant for bullying his opponents to move around the ring in a complex manner and hitting them while doing so.
That in-ring generalship, veteran savvy and guile was what "The Miracle Man" put on display in October, when he earned a hard-fought split-decision over Sergiy Derevyanchenko to claim the IBF middleweight championship.
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If Saul "Canelo" Alvarez is going to snatch that strap in their middleweight title unification fight Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, live and exclusively on DAZN, he'll probably need to figure out Jacobs' intricate style ... and quickly into the fight.
Former world champions Jessie Vargas and Sergio Mora recently held an in-ring demonstration for DAZN, with Vargas pinpointing these three keys for Canelo to solve Jacobs' style and have his hand raised Saturday night.
Move swiftly to attack the body early
"Canelo Alvarez is going to have to move over different styles. At times, in the beginning of the fight, he’s going to have to put pressure, apply pressure, come in, move and set, use a lot of head movement, a lot of footwork, left, right, and any chance he gets, any possibility of being inside the pocket, he needs to land that big left hook to the body, the uppercuts inside. Body, body and body and body shots. I cannot stress enough. Why? Because you need to diminish Daniel Jacobs’ power and speed and also the ability of him moving around boxing; all the strength that he has. All you have to do is land the body shots in the beginning. That way, toward the middle rounds, you start bringing it up top."
Counterpunching
"Box on the outside at times. Let Daniel come in, let him feel confident at times and throw punches that [Canelo] can counterpunch himself. Use his head movements, his counterpunch abilities at different moments of the fight."
MORE: Here's how Daniel Jacobs wins the fight
Fight 'Mexican style'
"He needs to bring out the Mexican style that he brought out against GGG — which is hands up, good solid defense, coming in with a straight jab, double jab, one-two, one, two, three hard shots and again, hitting the body when he can and coming right over the top with combinations. That’s what Canelo Alvarez needs to do."
