Newly crowned middleweight world titlist Daniel Jacobs' goal is to land a spring unification fight with Canelo Alvarez.
Jacobs plans to be ringside to watch Alvarez move up to challenge secondary super middleweight titlist Rocky Fielding on Saturday night (DAZN) at Madison Square Garden in New York. He knows Alvarez, the heavy favorite, will soon be looking for an opponent for his next fight, which is slated to be May 4 at The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the second fight of his record-breaking 11-fight, five-year, $365 million deal with sports streaming service DAZN.
Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs) has said his move up in weight is for only one fight and that he intends to return to middleweight to defend the belts he won from Gennady Golovkin in their rematch on Sept. 15. Jacobs wants to be his opponent and DAZN officials are also hoping for that, unless a third fight with Golovkin is made -- though that possibility seems more likely for next fall than May 4.
"I'll be there front and center on Saturday night," Jacobs said Tuesday. "It's no secret that my focus is on Canelo. There is no other fight in boxing I want right now more than him."
On Oct. 27 at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, Jacobs (35-2, 29 KOs), 31, of Brooklyn, New York, scored a first-round knockdown and went on to win a split decision and a vacant 160-pound world title -- one that had been stripped from Golovkin -- against Sergiy Derevyanchenko.
With the conclusion of that bout, Jacobs' contracts ended with HBO -- which ended its 45-year commitment to boxing on Saturday night -- and Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn. So Jacobs is a broadcast and promotional free agent but could re-sign with Hearn, who has a long-term deal with DAZN, as does Alvarez and Alvarez promoter Golden Boy.
"I did what I had to do and beat Derevyanchenko, a guy nobody wanted to fight, and claimed a piece of the middleweight crown. Now it's time to unify," Jacobs said. "I believe that I am the best middleweight in the world, and [Alvarez] thinks he is, so let's put it all on the line.
"This is not only the absolute biggest fight to be made in the division, but one of the biggest in all of boxing. As long as he takes care of business on Saturday night, I'm ready to go. Let's give the fans and the sport of boxing what they want and let's get this done for May 4."
Hearn, who promotes Fielding (27-1, 15 KOs) and is making a pitch to re-sign Jacobs, hopes to make the Alvarez-Jacobs fight for the spring.
"I'm rooting for a Rocky Fielding win this Saturday, and when Canelo returns to middleweight, the fight for May is the Canelo versus Jacobs unification," Hearn said. "After Danny's great fight with GGG and his IBF [title] victory in October, it's a fight he wants and one he believes he wins. He will be there on Saturday among the star-studded crowd watching very closely."
Jacobs lost a close unanimous decision to Golovkin in March 2017 in a fight many thought Jacobs eked out. Jacobs has won three fights in a row since and picked up a world title.