number1contender.net

HBO PPV Recap

The Battle of East & West: Pacquiao vs. Hatton

May 2, 2009

MGM Grand-Las Vegas, Nevada

Middleweight 8-Round Match:

Daniel Jacobs (15-0, 14 KO's, 163 pounds) vs. Michael Walker (19-1-2, 12 KO's, 162 pounds)

Jacobs was a top amateur boxer that was expected to make the 2008 United States Olympic team. However, he was upset in the Olympic trials and forced to turn pro early on December 8, 2007 as part of the untelevised undercard of the Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. PPV.

The Brooklyn, New York resident's last very high profile match was on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Oscar De La Hoya on December 6, 2008. Jacobs defeated Victor Lares by technical knockout at 2:44 of round 2 in that match. The New Yorker dropped Lares with a combination with 29 seconds to go in round 2. Lares stood up and appeared fine to continue, before the referee reached 10. However, the referee saw that Lares was over-matched and did not have the desire to continue. Therefore, the referee wisely waved off the match. A full recap of that can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/5/1/recap-of-daniel-jacobs-vs-victor-lares.html

Jacobs' last match saw him land a huge right hand to score a knockout victory 1:29 into round 2 over Jose Varela on April 24, 2009 at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The match, 8 days ago as part of an ESPN Friday Night Fights event, was the boxing version of WWE's "Beat the Clock Challenge" for Jacobs. There is a limit on the number of rounds a boxer can box in a certain time period. Had Jacobs gone into round 7 of that scheduled 8-rounder, he would have not been able to compete on the PPV. It would have been silly for Jacobs' people to risk his availability for the PPV in that match. However, Jacobs found out less then 2 weeks before the PPV that he would be replacing Kirkland. If Jacobs withdrew from the match with Varela to work the PPV instead at the last minute, that would have gotten him suspended in Illinois. It is against the rules to no show a match. That is considered defrauding the ticket buying audience, who paid to see the advertised card. However, Jacobs people did not tell him that he needed a quick knockout in that match. Jacobs is so powerful, that the early knockout came naturally.

Jacobs is unranked by The Ring and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 42 boxer in the world at 168 pounds.

Walker was originally brought in to lose this match to Kirkland in spectacular fashion at 154 pounds. The late change in opponent means he can lose this match in spectacular fashion at his normal weight of 160 pounds. Walker has a heavily inflated record that has shown heavily in his last 5 matches. The Chicago native has gone 1-1-1 in his last 3 matches. Those 3 matches were against 2 solid opponents that each had over 30 wins on their record. Prior to that, he had knocked out his previous 2 opponents. They entered their matches with him with records of 9-15 and 9-14-1.

Walker's last match was an 8-round majority decision win over Antwun Echols on October 3, 2008 at the Radisson Star Plaza in Merrillville, Illinois. That was a rematch of a majority draw Walker had with Echols on February 29, 2008 at the Paragon Casino & Resort in Marksville, Louisiana.

Walker is unranked by The Ring and ranked by boxrec.com as the number 71 boxer in the world at 160 pounds.

At 22-years-old, Jacobs is 8 years younger then the 30-year-old Walker. Jacobs has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Walker stands 5' 7" tall. The New Yorker has the reach advantage with a 24.5" arm length, compared to the 22.5" arm length of Walker. Both boxers have unofficially rehydrated to 169 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance. The unified rules of boxing will be in effect for the remainder of the event.

All of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Nevada. The referee is Vic Drakulich.

Jacobs had Walker hurt in the final 30 seconds of round 1 and nearly finished the match at that point. However, Walker was able to survive round 1. Jacobs wins round 1 big, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for Jacobs, 10-9. The New Yorker works at a deliberate pace and easily wins round 2, 10-9. Jacobs wins round 2 on the Lederman scorecard, 10-9. With 54 seconds to go in round 3, Walker locks Jacobs in a clinch and sends the young boxer hard to the ground with a cross between a belly-to-belly throw and a hiptoss. Jacobs stands up and is dusted off with 45 seconds to go in the round. The referee rules that Jacobs is fit to continue. Then the referee calls timeout before the action can resume. Jacobs needs his cup put back in place. It was moved out of position when he hit the mat and rolled. The referee is also using this opportunity to issue a stern warning to Walker for a number of things. If Walker flagrantly holds or throws Jacobs again the Chicagoan is going to be docked points. It is taking a while to reposition Jacobs cup, and Jacobs could use the break. The hard fall probably knocked the wind out of him. After about a 1 minute break the action is finally resumed. Jacobs wins round 3, 10-9, and leads on my scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-27. Lederman scores round 3 for Jacobs, 10-9, and has him winning after 3 rounds, 30-27.

Jacobs wins round 4, 10-9. The New Yorker seems to have realized that the brawling Walker is not going to be knocked out quickly. Therefore, Jacobs has decided to box more on the outside and conserve his energy. Jacobs has never gone 8 rounds before in his career. This is only the second time in his career that an opponent has forced him to box into round 5. The New Yorker takes round 4 on the Lederman scorecard, 10-9. With 2:11 to go in round 5, there is a vicious accidental clash of heads. The head butt causes Walker to turn around and walk away from Jacobs. The referee then moves in to call timeout with 2:07 to go in the round to check both boxers for blood. Neither boxer is bleeding. However, Walker is grimacing in tremendous pain. The referee calls for the action to resume after a roughly 10 second pause in the action. Jacobs out-works Walker to win round 5, 10-9. The more active Jacobs wins round 5 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. With 46 seconds to go in round 6, Jacobs goes to the mat for the second time in this match. The referee correctly rules it a slip. Walker only used a minor push to put Jacobs down that time, so it will not result in a point deduction. The action is resumed with 43 seconds to go in the round. Jacobs uses his superior boxing skills to win round 6, 10-9 and is ahead in the match after 6 rounds on my scorecard, 60-54. Lederman scored round 6 for Jacobs, 10-9, and has him winning the match after 6 rounds, 60-54.

This is the first round 7 of Jacobs' career. Jacobs wins an uneventful round 7 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. The arena is starting to get very full at this point. Based on the general crowd murmur and the action in the ring, more people are probably discussing Wayne Newton's greatness as a worker then focusing on this match. The busier Jacobs easily wins round 8, 10-9, and wins the match on my scorecard, 10-9. Jacobs takes round 8 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9, and wins the match on the Lederman scorecard, 80-72.

The official decision courtesy of Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored this match: 80-72, 80-72, 79-73, all to the winner by unanimous decision and still undefeated, "The Golden Child" Daniel Jacobs. The win moves Jacobs to 16-0 with 14 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Jacobs landing 225 of the 767 total punches he threw, for a 29% total connect percentage. Jacobs landed 155 of the 448 power punches he threw, for a 35% power connect percentage. Walker landed only 82 of the 424 total punches he threw, for a 19% total connect percentage. The Chicagoan landed 73 of the 328 power punches he threw, for a 22% power connect percentage.

Jacobs was good here against a durable opponent. He showed solid boxing skills and excellent conditioning. This was easily the most difficult match of Jacobs' professional career. Jacobs has the most pro experience of the prospects on this PPV, but he is the youngest by 4 years. There is no need to rush him. Therefore, it would be best for him to return after a short break possibly on the undercard of the just announced July 18 PPV in another 8-rounder against a slightly better opponent. (See below for details on the July 18 PPV.)

Walker was the best of the opponents on this PPV, so far. That is somewhat faint praise. He has an excellent ability to take a punch. Walker's more then 10 total punches landed per round average in the loss were the best any opponent has done on this PPV. The Chicagoan's major problem is he is far too small to be competing at 160 pounds. At 5' 7" tall, Walker would be a smaller boxer at 147 pounds. Ideally at that height he should be at 140 pounds, but definitely no higher then 147 pounds. At 160 pounds, Walker can do nothing more then be an opponent for young prospects. The weight class Walker competes in for the rest of his career will control what type of success he can have in the sport.