Daniel Jacobs and John Ryder have the venue officially set for their February 12 fight, as the pair will headline at London’s Alexandra Palace in a DAZN main event.
The 35-year-old Jacobs will be fighting outside of the United States for the third time in his career, and for the first time in a truly significant matchup. He beat Jesse Orta in Canada in late 2010, a quiet bounce-back from his loss to Dmitry Pirog that year, and he also went to Puerto Rico for a win over Milton Nunez in early 2014.
“I’m super excited to be returning to the ring,” said Jacobs. “It has always been a dream of mine to fight in London as a professional, and I’m looking forward to fighting in front of a great crowd. I’m putting my best foot forward.”
Jacobs (37-3, 30 KO) hasn’t fought since his Nov. 2020 win over Gabriel Rosado, a somewhat controversial decision in a truly dreadful fight. That bout came 11 months after the wild scene in Arizona, where Julio Cesar Chavez Jr quit after five rounds against Jacobs, leading to a small-scale riot in the Phoenix venue.
Ryder (30-5, 17 KO) will have home field in London, and the 33-year-old southpaw is definitely a viable and dangerous opponent, but he doesn’t come in with much more career momentum than Jacobs. After a highly disputed decision loss to Callum Smith in 2019 — a fight many thought Ryder deserved to win — he’s only fought in a pair of club-level bouts, beating Mike Guy in Dec. 2020 and Jozef Jurko in Sept. 2021.
“This is the fight I need to really bring the best out in me,” said Ryder. “Jacobs is a great fighter but he has had his time and now it’s my time to shine! My dreams are at stake and destiny awaits. It’s time to get right back to where I need to be.”
The rest of the card will be coming together shortly, since it’s all of a month away, but we do know that heavyweight Johnny Fisher (4-0, 4 KO) is slated to make his return on the show.