Former world titleholder Daniel Jacobs has officially reached an agreement with John Ryder for a February 12 super middleweight fight that will headline on DAZN, airing live from London, as Mike Coppinger as reports for ESPN. Reports surfaced last week about the plans but it appears to have now gotten over the finish line.
The 35-year-old Jacobs will be going on the road for this fight and hasn’t been in the ring since a split decision win over Gabriel Rosado in November 2020, having sat out of action for the entirety of this year. For an older fighter like Jacobs there will be real questions about his form and potential ring rust, and those are probably fair questions considering we’ve likely already seen the best of what Jacobs has to offer.
John Ryder, 33, may not really be a world level talent — which in fairness is not the level Jacobs is contending at himself at this point — but he has been a little more active as he scored a stoppage over Jozef Jurko this past September. As a London native Ryder will also have the backing of his hometown crowd, which could just urge him on to put on a big performance.