The Fight Corner: Daniel Jacobs knows how to push Canelo Alvarez’s buttons

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Daniel Jacobs has stirred up Canelo Alvarez by contending that Gennady Golovkin won both fights against Mexico’s lineal and two-belt middleweight champion.

“He’s given me credit for beating Golovkin,” Jacobs said of his own narrow unanimous-decision loss to the former champion in 2017 in New York. “For me not giving him the credit for beating Golovkin, I think that’s probably what the fuss is. I thought the first fight was Golovkin by unanimous decision, and the second was Golovkin by split decision, or a draw.”

Brooklyn’s International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Jacobs (35-2, 29 knockouts) is furthering his agenda with that stance as he presses Nevada judges to turn in unbiased scorecards should his May 4 fight against Alvarez (50-1-2, 34 KOs) wind up in their hands.

“We want to put attention on the judges to make sure everybody is accountable. Canelo is a big entity in the sport of boxing and he has that effect,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs is referring to the 2013 even score that since-ousted judge C.J. Ross turned in for Alvarez in his lopsided loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr., the stunning 10-rounds-to-two card that Adalaide Byrd delivered in the 2017 draw between Alvarez and Golovkin and the 12^th-round nod to Alvarez in September by Dave Moretti and Steve Weisfeld that determined the new champion’s majority decision victory.

“Why is that an even a thing? If this is the sport of boxing, why are we even acknowledging that, ‘If you win the fight, but you don’t win decisively, you know you’re not going to get the nod?’” Jacobs asked.

“Why can’t this just be a fair sport where the best man wins the fight? I hate the fact that we’ve got to keep talking about the judges … . This should be a fair sport where the best man, not the best man who has the most influence on the sport, [wins]. I hate that that exists … [but] we know through the history of Canelo’s career, it’s been an issue. Me bringing attention to it is not me complaining.”

The Nevada Athletic Commission will determine the judges next month, and while Golovkin also sought to spotlight scoring credibility before his rematch, he said he felt let down again by the process in the moments after suffering his first defeat.

Alvarez, 28, who rode the Golovkin victory to a 10-fight, $350-million contract with the streaming service DAZN, has privately expressed being irked by Jacobs’ comments, according to his promoter, Golden Boy President Eric Gomez.

But in a Monday night discussion with reporters at L.A. Live’s Microsoft Theater, he said, “[Jacobs is] probably looking for me to knock him out. I’m not worried about what he’s saying.”

On a mission

Alvarez says he’s preparing not only for Jacobs, but for a third Golovkin fight in September when the former long-reigning champion finally signs with DAZN.

That deal has long been described as imminent by those close to Golovkin. A possible return opponent could be World Boxing Organization champion Demetrius Andrade.

“The important thing for me is to fight the best always,” said Alvarez, who wears the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Assn. belts while also possessing a secondary WBA super-middleweight belt.

“In this case, Daniel Jacobs has a belt. [Trainer] Eddy [Reynoso] told me early on, ‘Look, I want you to be the first Mexican in history to have all the belts.’ Jacobs has the IBF belt.”

And Golovkin will be next? “Yes, whoever’s the champion. That’s the objective: to win the belts. It doesn’t matter who has them. Once I’m done and retired, I want to be remembered as someone who fought everyone.”

Both Gomez and Golden Boy Chairman Oscar De La Hoya said “it’s the best deal” for Golovkin to finalize his deal with DAZN, with Gomez adding “I would love to see” all four belts on the line in a September bout.

“If he wants to fight Canelo, he has to have an agreement with DAZN,” said De La Hoya. “It will make the fight that much easier to make.”

Speaking of DAZN

WBO light-middleweight champion Jaime Munguia (32-0, 26 KOs) of Tijuana will make the mandatory defense of his belt April 13 in Monterrey, Mexico, against Irish-born Australian Dennis Hogan (28-1-1, seven KOs), Gomez said.

In addition to an expected strong draw at Arena Monterrey for the 22-year-old Munguia, Gomez said Golden Boy’s 20-year-old lightweight prospect Ryan Garcia has sold out Fantasy Springs Resort Casino March 30 for his main event scheduled for 10 rounds against Jose Lopez.

De La Hoya referenced the cease-and-desist letter his attorneys have sent to Mayweather for perceived tampering with Garcia by jabbing at Mayweather to consider a rematch with Alvarez.

“There’s a lot of money to be made … if [Mayweather] wants to come back. The way you should have picked up the phone to make a fight with Ryan, pick up the phone and make a fight with Canelo. Easy as that,” De La Hoya said.

Desperate pursuit

Russia’s Dmitry Biviol (15-0, 11 KOs) has noticeably improved his English as he moves toward Saturday’s WBA light-heavyweight title defense on DAZN against New York’s Joe Smith Jr. at Turning Stone Resort in New York.

How’d he do it? A big help, Bivol has reported, was watching “Desperate Housewives” reruns with his wife.

Until next time

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