Jacobs Trainer Claims Title Fight Won’t Happen

Following Gennady Golovkin being stripped of the IBF middleweight title, two of the top contenders being considered for the now vacant title are Sergiy Derevyanchenko (mandatory challenger) and Daniel Jacobs (ranked 3rd in the IBF).

Derevyanchenko was the mandatory opponent for Golovkin, who would not come to terms with the challenger for a title defense. The lack of an agreement is why the governing body stripped the undefeated fighter of his title.

If the two men are ordered for a fight, there would be a bit of an issue, mainly due to both men being trained by Andre Rozier.

“There’s other directions to go in. If there was only one direction it might be a different story – but there’s so many directions to go in and they’re teammates – they don’t need to box each other at this point in time,” Rozier explained.

“If you’ve seen in the past when guys were working with Freddie Roach, ‘I won’t box this guy,’ so and so forth. It’s the same premise. There’s a lot of work out there and so many directions to go in, it’s not necessary.”

In terms of an opponent for Jacobs, Rozier doesn’t put stock in any of the rumors surrounding Canelo Alvarez, and would rather see Jacobs face WBO middleweight champion, Billy Joe Saunders.

“I’d really like to see Danny and Billy Joe Saunders (the WBO middleweight titlist) tie it up,” Rozier told Boxing Scene. “If Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren can work it out that would be a huge, huge fight.”

Quotes: Boxing Scene