Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez’s WBC, WBA and IBF middleweight championship fight against Daniel Jacobs will go ahead as planned, despite Jacobs missing a confidential ‘catchweight’ that is set to cost him nearly $1m from his fight purse.
Promoter Oscar De La Hoya revealed that the two fighters agreed to a confidential clause in their contracts which committed the two middleweight world champions to a limit of 170 pounds on the day of the fight.
The move was to stop either fighter from intensive rehydration, a move which Jacobs was accused of in his last defeat against Gennady Golovkin that came four fights ago.
However, De La Hoya confirmed that Jacobs had ballooned to more than 170 pounds on the morning of the bout, infuriating Canelo and raising doubts about Jacobs’ control ahead of the fight.
"Jacobs came in heavy. It is what it is," De La Hoya said. "We spoke to Canelo, and his attitude is, 'I don't care. I'm still gonna kick his ass.'
“Canelo is pissed off, and he wants to kick his ass. Canelo was 169, solid and feeling stronger than ever. But the fact that Jacobs came in heavy tells you a lot. It tells you how unsure he is in himself."
According to ESPN, Jacobs stands to lose $250,000 of his fight purse per pound over the 170-pound limit, which would cost him $750,000 as he weighed in at 173.6 pounds.
Jacobs’ camp have declined to comment on the matter after sticking to the confidentiality clause, but after both fighters made the initial 160-pound middleweight limit, the fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will go ahead as planned.
De La Hoya added that Canelo’s camp were not too concerned about Jacobs’ rapid increase in weight.
"My thought is, as long as both guys made 160 and Canelo looked the stronger fighter during the weigh-in, that's all that matters," De La Hoya said. "We have a fight."
