BoxRec

I'm a bit taken aback as to why Jacobs is only a -600 favorite against Fletcher, in the States no less. This vacant WBA title is being gift-wrapped for Jacobs. The only fighter of relative note Fletcher has faced, Saunders, demolished him in 2 rounds. And Saunders isnt even a puncher.

Jacobs will have it all his way here. Line is too short.

Boxing News make Jacobs a favourite too. Fletcher's another Aussie flattered by soft home matches, and well short of world championship material. He's strictly commonwealth level at best.

Maybe because Jacobs' best win in 5 years is over Giovanni Lorenzo and Fletcher is on a winning streak, albeit not against good opponents. Whatever the reasons and looking past resumes, I'd be quite surprised if Jacobs didn't win; I'm not sure if Fletcher has a good enough chin to avoid being stopped and even if he does he'll likely have to go the distance since he's not a puncher, and winning a decision over Jacobs in NY will likely be tough for multiple reasons. Fletcher seems like a hard worker who can out-hustle limited opposition, but I don't think he has much to trouble fighters like Jacobs even though I don't think much of him either.

Someone really wants Jacobs to have a belt by the way.

Fletcher has approximately zero paths to victory here.

Cant punch.

Isnt outpointing Jacobs in his backyard. He would literally need to win 9-10 rounds to win this fight and there's no way in hell he's good enough to do that. He probably gets stopped anyway.

I agree, and I'm pretty sure that's a large part of why the fight is happening.

I agree that Jacobs wins but I also agree with the oddsmakers. Fletcher had a really good amateur career. He was more than holding his own against Saunders when it was prematurely stopped and he beat Bursak.

The odds aren't wider because Jacobs is a question mark. The last time he stepped up to a top opponent (Pirog) he kind of got crushed, and that was 4 years ago with a bout with cancer in between. Fletcher is no world-beater but Max Bursak is a better win than Giovanni Lorenzo these days so he has that going for him.

What's funny about this matchup even with the lopsided odds, it's the most evenly-matched fight on the card. Garcia is something like a -2000 favorite.

jujigatame wrote:The odds aren't wider because Jacobs is a question mark. The last time he stepped up to a top opponent (Pirog) he kind of got crushed, and that was 4 years ago with a bout with cancer in between. Fletcher is no world-beater but Max Bursak is a better win than Giovanni Lorenzo these days so he has that going for him.

What's funny about this matchup even with the lopsided odds, it's the most evenly-matched fight on the card. Garcia is something like a -2000 favorite.

We don't even know if Pirog can be called "top", because Jacobs was his best win. He was good, but we don't know if he belonged to top.