By Keith Idec
Daniel Jacobs’ manager has refuted trainer John David Jackson’s claims that Jacobs weighed “180, 185” pounds and as a cruiserweight had an unfair advantage over Luis Arias in their middleweight fight Saturday night.
Keith Connolly, Jacobs’ manager, took issue with Jackson’s comments following Jacobs’ easy unanimous-decision victory over Arias in their 12-round fight (http://www.boxingscene.com/jackson-jacobs-cruiserweight-an-unfair-advantage--122387). HBO televised Jacobs-Arias as the main event of a “World Championship Boxing” tripleheader from Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but Jacobs out-classed Arias in what was a significant step up in competition for the middleweight from Milwaukee.
In addition to the blister Arias developed on the sole of his right foot early in the fight, Jackson contended that Jacobs’ huge weight advantage was too much for Arias to overcome. Jackson said Arias weighed 170 pounds once their bout began, at least 10 less than Jacobs, and called for commissions and sanctioning bodies to make second-day weigh-ins standard operating procedure in boxing.
“Danny made the 160-pound weight limit fair and square at the official weigh-in,” Connolly told BoxingScene.com. “There was no deal in place for a second-day weigh-in, just as there wasn’t for every other fighter on the card. And Danny was no heavier than 172, 173 at fight time.”
Brooklyn’s Jacobs (33-2, 29 KOs) weighed in at 159.6 pounds on Friday afternoon. Arias (18-1, 9 KOs) weighed in at the middleweight limit of 160.
The 27-year-old Arias talked trash about Jacobs throughout the buildup toward their fight, but was mostly ineffective against the bigger, stronger, better Jacobs.
“As far as John David Jackson’s comments, I’m not surprised,” Connolly said. “He disrespected Danny the entire promotion. Then his fighter ran and held the entire time. His fighter got completely shut out and now is coming up with the lame excuse of a blister.
“Jackson has become a bitter man because [Sergey] Kovalev left him and Arias has now become a footnote. [Jackson] has nothing left.”
2023-10-19 23:34:59
