Jacobs’ Trainer On Joe Smith Matchup: I Really Don’t Want To See Them Fight, But This Is A Business

Andre Rozier is not exactly looking forward to the idea of his charge, Daniel Jacobs, taking on fellow New Yorker and light heavyweight titleholder Joe Smith Jr. 

Jacobs and Smith are reportedly in talks to face each other in early 2022. Smith, however, has to come out victorious in his slated mandatory bout against Russia’s Umar Salamov (26-1, 19 KOs) later in the fall. 

This would be the first time at light heavyweight for Jacobs (37-3, 30 KOs), a longtime middleweight contender and titleholder. The Brooklyn native has fought at the 168-pound limit ever since his middleweight title loss to Canelo Alvarez in 2019, going 2-0 against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Gabriel Rosado, albeit the latter bout was highly disputed.

Rozier, however, is personally against his longtime charge mixing it up with Smith (27-3, 21 KOs), who hails from Long Island. Rozier counts Smith as a good friend and business client; Rozier manufactures his own line of fight gear under the Havoc brand. 

“Joe Smith is a wonderful, wonderful friend of ours,” Rozier told FightHype. “He reps my clothing line to the team. I love him to death.” 

At the same time, Rozier knows that in prizefighting the bottom line is what counts. 

“I really don’t want to see them fight, but this is a business of boxing,” Rozier continued. “This is how they make their money. I’m not going to be the one to deny them making millions of dollars.” 

Rozier and Jacobs recently patched things up after they had a bad falling out in the aftermath of the Alvarez bout. Rozier claimed that Jacobs had stiffed him on his purse. In March, they were pictured on social media smiling together in a photo. Rozier confirmed to FightHype that he would be “working with” Jacobs moving forward. 

Asked about Jacob’s future fight plans, Rozier made it clear it all depends on whether or not Smith beats Salamov in the fall. 

“We were hoping to mix it up with Joe Smith,” Rozier said. “We have to wait and see. Joe Smith has a mandatory that he has to take care of and we’ll see what happens.”