With the British boxing season all but over, we look to the Mandalay Bay Casino in Las Vegas for our fighting fix where Daniel Jacobs and Dmitry Pirog contest the vacant WBO middleweight title, live on Sky Sports from 2am.
Billed as the chief support for Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz, there will be nothing second best about this clash when two hard hitting, undefeated warriors aim to further their own career at the expense of the other. It is a widely used phrase in big time boxing these days but ‘someone’s ‘0’ really does have to go’ here and it could turn out to be a memorable affair.
23 year old New Yorker Daniel Jacobs, dubbed ‘The Golden Child’, first arrived on our radar in 2007 and after knocking out all of his first nine opponents inside 4 rounds, it was obvious to all that he was here to stay. The 6ft 1inch orthodox gained his first piece of silverware, a WBO NABO title, in 2009 courtesy of a points win over fellow countryman Ishe Smith and the local favourite added to that with a 2nd round TKO victory over Juan Astorga to get his hands on the NABF crown in his last outing. Jacobs has recent form onside and although Saturday represents a real step up in class, punters can back the American at an appealing 4/5 (Bet365).
30 year old ‘away fighter’ Dmitry Pirog may not travel as the most popular fighter in the city but the man from the fighting town of Gelendzhik, Russia will duck between those ropes dead set on causing an upset. With a 16 fight undefeated record, Pirog boasts an earth shattering 81% KO average and it is little wonder the 5ft 11inch orthodox hasn’t had to look far for rewards. A pro since 2005, Pirog claimed the Russian title in only his fourth outing and that honour was not meant to sit on his trophy cabinet alone. During a career fought out across his homeland, Pirog added WBC CISBB, WBC Asian boxing council, WBO Asia pacific and WBC International titles and he can be backed at as much as 13/10 (Boylesports) to further enhance his reputation.
Bookmakers are struggling to separate these two and it isn’t hard to see why. Both have won the vast majority of their fights inside the scheduled distance but the money question is ‘who’ will land that decisive punch first. It’s a good old fashioned shoot-out and is sure to waken a weary eyed British public. Pirog has boxed outside of Russia only once and that was in Germany so his visit to the States, and a hostile home support, should test him to the max. Jacobs has youth, experience and height onside and his 4/5 price tag gets my vote.
In the main attraction we have the fight of the year rematch and any sports fan worth their salt will not want to miss this showpiece event. Juan Manuel Marquez knocked out Juan Diaz when the pair met 17 months ago when behind on the scorecards but is coming to the end of his career. Marquez should be good enough for the win but the value here lies in backing over 9.5 rounds at 8/15 with Skybet.
