Jarrod Fletcher to face Danny Jacobs for WBA ‘regular’ title

 
AS of next month, the World Boxing Association (WBA) will crown three champions in one division, that’s right, three champions of one belt.

 
Australia’s Jarrod Fletcher (18-1, 10 KOs), the highest rated middleweight contender within the organisation rated second, will face fifth-rated big punching American Danny ‘Miracle Man’ Jacobs (27-1, 24 KOs) for the WBA regular middleweight title.

 
The opportunity was created when the WBA elevated Gennady Golovkin to ‘super champion’ status, allowing him to face Australia’s Daniel Geale at Madison Square Garden on July 26th – leaving the regular title vacant – which Fletcher and Jacobs will contest.

 
This is in addition to last month, where Dmitry Chudinov beat Patrick Nielsen to win the honour of being the WBA interim middleweight titleholder.

 
Jacobs, 27, from Brooklyn, New York, is one of the leading contenders in the middleweight division, despite not holding a high rating. Jacobs, a cancer survivor, has been long chasing WBO middleweight titlist Peter Quillin, who is also signed to promotional giant Golden Boy Promotions.

 
Jacobs has previously challenged for a version of the middleweight title, losing by knockout to Dmitry Pirog in 2010, but has won seven consecutive fights since – all by knockout – including credible wins over Giovanni Lorenzo and Milton Nunez. Jacobs is no stranger to Australian shores, having spent several weeks in Sydney’s west earlier this year, where he helped Garth Wood prepare for his ill-fated showdown with Daniel Geale.

 
Fletcher, 30, whose team have publicly stated their desire to face the leading contenders in the middleweight division, has arguably drawn the toughest opponent of the available contenders, Golovkin and Geale aside.

 
“We’ve had Murray, Chudinov and now Golovkin all pull out of either contracted or mandated fights for their own reasons, fortunately Max Bursak and now Daniel Jacobs have both stepped up to take the challenge,” said Fletcher’s manager Adam Wilcock in a press release.

 
“Ultimately without the backing of HBO, Golovkin brings little to the table for Jarrod. Yes there’s the title there, and we wanted that opportunity for Jarrod. But we can’t force his camp to take the fight and they obviously have their own agenda for sidestepping Fletcher.”

 
No date has been made for the tentative matchup, but if successful Fletcher will hold the middleweight version of a title previously held by Anthony Mundine twice at super middleweight.