Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Daniel Jacobs won a unanimous decision over rugged Maciej Sulecki?
Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, in a WBA middleweight eliminator televised live on HBO, Daniel Jacobs (34-2, 29 KOs), the Fighting Pride of Brooklyn, won a unanimous decision over Maciej Sulecki (26-1, 10 KOs), handing the rugged competitor from Warsaw, Poland, his first loss as a pro after 12 action-packed rounds.
The final scores were 116-111 (John McKaie), 117-111 (Carlos Ortiz Jr.), and 115-112 (Steve Weisfeld).
Fighting out of the red corner in black trunks trimmed in silver, Jacobs proved once again what a complete fighter he is. Fast and athletic yet smart and composed, he engaged in a tantalizing back-and-forth contest that, the scorecards notwithstanding, was up for grabs until the final round.
Sulecki, fighting out of the blue corner in white and gold trunks, has a ring IQ equal to his opponent?s and he traveled halfway around the globe, not to put in an appearance and earn a nice payday. He came to Brooklyn to fight and to win.
He?s a serious fighter who, while previously unknown, deserves a top 10 ranking.
The fighters were evenly matched. Jacobs won the first half of the fight. Sulecki came on in the later rounds, until Jacobs sealed the victory in the 12th and final round with a perfectly timed right hand that dropped him to the canvas.
With the win Jacobs might have earned another shot at Gennady Golovkin, the reigning WBA champion, to whom he lost a close decision this time a year ago. If that opportunity fails to materialize, a fight with interim WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo could be in the offing.
?My plan is to fight any of the champions with the belts, any of the top guys at middleweight,? said Jacobs after the bout. ?If Brooklyn wants Charlo, then Charlo it will be.?
In other action, unbeaten heavyweight contender, Brooklyn?s own Jarrell ?Big Baby? Miller (21-0-1, 18 KOs) fought resilient Johann Duhaupas (37-5, 24 KOs), from Abbeville, Somme, France, to a lopsided unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
Weighing in at over 300 pounds, it?s fun to watch ?Big Baby? do his thing in the ring. That said, it?s premature, and perhaps inaccurate, to continually compare him to other Brooklyn heavyweights like Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe, both of whom were considerably more skilled even before they entered the heavyweight ranks. But a big body with a big punch and big personality is always welcome, even though talk of his fighting Deontay Wilder, or possibly Anthony Joshua, at this point in his career seems risky if not suicidal.
