By: Hans Themistode
The night should have been all about Deontay Wilder. The Tuscaloosa, Alabama natives had a point to prove for everyone. He’s certainly the proud owner of the heavyweight WBC crown and no one questions him as a violent puncher but many aren’t sure if he’s capable enough to hit it. defeat all who come or not.
On March 3, 2018, at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, both Wilder and Cuban star Luis Ortiz went to war in the middle of the ring. Ortiz did what he’s always done, boxed well from the outside, and landed like punches that take down ordinary men. However, Wilder weathered every bit of that heavy storm before scoring a knockout in the tenth round.
While the fireworks display in the ring was memorable, backstage, more blows were on the verge of taking place.
For years, both Daniel Jacobs and Jermall Charlo exchanged words over social media and whenever cameras were available. Ironically, both men were present for the night. However, crossing each other’s roads does not seem to happen. Charlo watched Wilder vs. Ortiz from his surroundings, while Jacobs a few feet away does the same thing.
Neither man appeared to notice the other and everyone was on their way out of the arena. But, in what has become the norm in boxing, several members of the media gathered around Charlo for interviews.
For the most part, the topic of their initial conversation revolved around Hugo Centeno Jr. Charlo was originally set to be the fringe contender for the WBC’s interim middleweight crown on February 23, but their competition was postponed due to Centeno Jr.’s rib injury. .
The normally gentle Charlo had nothing to say bad about his future opponent and simply wished him a speedy recovery.
In the end, the mood changed as soon as Jacobs’ name was mentioned. Although Charlo signed on the dotted line to face Centeno Jr. and even though Jacobs has a private date with Maciej Sulecki, Charlo is anxious to push their agreed-upon rival out of the way to make their contest a reality.
“I’m looking for him right now,” Charlo told Jacobs in an interview with a group of reporters. “Where is he? I’m in Brooklyn. If Jacobs wants to fight, fight. Let’s skip the match against Centeno, he won’t have to fight the next one either. ”
Moments after asking where Jacobs was, the former middleweight standard athlete showed up.
At first, Jacobs didn’t seem to notice Charlo. The smiling Jacobs calmly walked through the back area of Barclays Center, wearing an expensive button-down shirt revealing a gold chain underneath. When he glanced at Charlo, his smile widened.
“I came at the perfect moment, instantly edging past every member of the media to step right in front of Charlo,” says Jacobs. “I’m just trying to figure out what we’re doing?”
The controversial ending only continued as Jacobs made exceptions to some of the storylines surrounding their possible fight. With Charlo heavily affiliated with Showtime and Jacobs partnering with HBO and leaving Showtime in the dust, the Brooklyn production highlighted his current bank account and paycheck as a reason why he decided to leave the prominent network.
“Dude, you haven’t even touched an M (million),” Jacobs said as they continued their argument. “I’m touching M’s, that’s why I made my way to HBO.”
Curses filled the backyard and tension flared up. Security quickly arrived to separate the two but before going their separate ways, they shook hands. The boxing world began to salivate over their possible duel.
Weeks passed without word of a possible deal. Their proposal to bypass their direct opponent proved to be bogus as well as Jacobs easily defeating Sulecki and Charlo ruthlessly stopping Centeno Jr a week earlier.
Weeks turn to months, and finally to years. The pair continued to fight in the exact same weight class for most of that term. Charlo carved a name for himself, eventually being elevated to full WBC owner, while Jacobs will claim the IBF crown against Sergiy Derevyanchenko in 2018.
Even when Jacobs lost a near unanimous decision to Canelo Alvarez in May 2019, the boxing world was worried for the pair to enter the ring against each other. Four long years have passed since that March 4 confrontation and fans of the pugilistic sport, who rarely agree on anything, can concede one thing… their contest won’t be. never happen. Or, at this point, who really cares if that happens?
The proverbial tombstone from their explosive duel was officially laid over the weekend. Jacobs, now 35, lost in a close split to John Ryder, about a year and a half after a lackluster and unimpressive win over competitor Gabe Rosado at 168 pounds.
Jacobs looks slower and less attractive. His once formidable fighting prowess never showed up throughout the night, and his overall skills were lost.
You see, boxing tends to do this, more times than not. The two most violent and dangerous boxers in their games who absolutely dislike each other will give fans what they want to see. At this point, their contest has officially entered the corner.
Charlo, 31, still seems to have a lot of stuff in the box and still has a belt with medium gold. However, a showdown between him and Jacobs is nothing more than a mismatch, one that will play out over the emotions of the fighting fans as they try to get their imaginations back from their 2018 confrontation.
The boxing world will do what it always does in this scenario. Shrugged and excited it as another missed opportunity, another high bet, the highly anticipated match in the trash next to Riddick Bowe vs. Lennox Lewis, Shane Mosley vs. Felix Trinidad, George Foreman vs. Earnie Shavers, and countless other must-see matches never took place.
Charlo vs. The Jacobs don’t quite live up to the all-time great battles or the expectations placed on them. However, the overall results are the same. It’s a fight fans want, crave, and beg for. But of course, boxing has given us all the middle fingers. Now, when we officially turn our attention elsewhere, we’ll be forced to think, what could possibly happen.
