Jarrod Fletcher – “I like having the underdog tag”

 
THE road less travelled has taken Jarrod Fletcher to many places.

 
From Melbourne to Beijing as a distinguished amateur and to both London and Monte Carlo as a professional. However, his latest destination may prove to be the most vital.

 
In a career that has spanned over a decade, Fletcher now finds himself in Brooklyn, New York and only days away from challenging for the middleweight championship of the world.

 
While his opponent may not be the fearful Kazakh titan in WBA middleweight ‘super’ titlist Gennady Golovkin, Fletcher finds himself on the end of yet another unenviable task as he challenges once beaten Brooklyn native Danny ‘Miracle Man’ Jacobs for the right to be crowned the ‘regular’ middleweight titlist by the WBA.

 
Their fight takes place this weekend from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, placing Fletcher on the biggest possible platform in hope of scoring an upset of epic proportions.

 
“My preparation has been one of the best I have ever had, everything seems to be falling into place.” said Fletcher in an exclusive interview with Aus-Boxing. “I have had a lot of different sparring which has been great. I have worked with Daniel Geale, Zac Dunn, Rocky Jerkic, Rohan Murdock, Dennis Hogan and Dean Mikelj.”

 
“It has been a great variety and I feel I’m boxing the best I ever have.”

 
“I’m confident I have done everything I possibly can in my preparation and I’m feeling ready for this. It’s going to be the toughest fight of my life but I’m excited about the challenge ahead of me.”

 
In Jacobs, 27, Fletcher is facing a physically gifted athlete who is not only fighting in his backyard, but also arguably in the prime of his career. Jacobs (27-1, 24 KOs) is a terrific boxer/puncher that has been on a tear since dropping the only loss of his career just over four years ago – a knockout loss to Dmitry Pirog – in his first and only previous world title attempt.

 
“Jacobs is a big puncher with a lot of power so I expect him to come out and try and finish me early. I think he is going to try and pressure me and make a statement. But I will be ready for whatever he throws at me.”

 
Fletcher, 30, was originally mandated by the WBA to face Gennady Golovkin, the legitimate middleweight champion, with both teams having entered a negotiation period to make the fight. However, Golovkin’s team, lead by K2 Promotions’ Tom Loeffler secured his fighter an exemption that ultimately ended with Golovkin being raised to ‘super’ champion status.

 
This in turn set the path for last months unified middleweight title fight between Golovkin and fellow Australian Daniel Geale.

 
Despite missing out on the marquee fight, Fletcher (18-1, 10 KOs) holds no animosity towards Geale or his team for taking the fight he initially thought was his.

 
“I’m great mates with Daniel and I had hoped he’d get the win over Golovkin. Boxing is a business and GGG wanted the biggest fight possible and Daniel is a bigger name than me at the moment,” Fletcher explained. “So I’m not filthy at Daniel, things have worked out well and we both ended up having the biggest fights of our careers.”

 
With that said, Fletcher appears to understand what is at stake against Jacobs this weekend. He may not have landed the Golovkin fight, but if he is successful against Jacobs, he will stand in a lucrative position in the middleweight title picture – which could lead to several more high profile fights – but Fletcher insists it is one fight at a time.

 
“It’s going to be very hard for me to go into Jacobs backyard and bring the title home, but I am well up for the challenge,” Fletcher said. “I like having the underdog tag, it makes me fight harder. I have nothing to lose and I will be leaving it all in the ring.”

 
 
Words: Brock Ellis
Photo: Supplied/Fightcard Promotions
 

Back Jarrod Fletcher ($5.50) at the highest odds on Bet365 as he attempts to score a major upset against the heavy favourite Danny Jacobs ($1.14).