Daniel Jacobs calls out Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders

Daniel Jacobs named fellow super middleweights Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders as desirable opponents on a Matchroom Boxing podcast.

Former two-time middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs is early into his campaign as a super middleweight, but he’s already targeting two title belts held by Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders.

After losing to Canelo Alvarez by close split-decision in July of 2019, a move to super middleweight was inevitable for Jacobs. Jacobs (36-3, 30 KOs) made his super middleweight debut in December of 2019, stopping Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in five rounds.

With boxing on lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, Jacobs hasn’t been able to take another fight, but he’s hungry for a world title opportunity.

Saunders (29-0, 14 KOs) is the WBO super middleweight champion, and Smith (27-0, 19 KOs) holds the WBA belt. Jacobs put them both on notice while talking to Chris Lloyd on Matchroom Boxing’s podcast, The Lockdown Tapes.

“I want to be a Hall of Famer one day, and winning a belt in this weight division is what I need to do to achieve that,” said the 33-year-old Jacobs. “You are going to see the best version of Daniel Jacobs now, and I’m looking at the likes of Callum [Smint] and Billy Joe [Saunders], both of those fights make sense.”

Saunders and Smith are both coming off lackluster performances. Saunders knocked out Marcelo Esteban Coceres in round 10 in November but looked out of sync for most of the fight.

Smith won a highly controversial decision in November against John Ryder. Many fans and pundits thought that Ryder won despite the judges’ scoring. Smith and Ryder are both British, but the bout took place in Smith’s hometown of Liverpool at the Echo Arena.

Jacobs added, ” It only makes sense for me coming into this division to fight the very best. I want to be able to prove that I am the best. As well as wanting the big fights, there is also the fights where you want to settle the debt, which is what I have always said about that little nag Gabe Rosado. If we were to fight in New York or Philadelphia then great, it’s onwards from there. He is just a hater who wants my position.”

Jacobs is an elite boxer and would be a difficult challenge for both Saunders and Smith. Neither man has fought an opponent of Jacobs’ caliber.

You can listen to the rest of the Jacobs interview on The Lockdown Tapes podcast, which is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Matchroom Boxing’s website.