DANIEL JACOBS vs GEORGE WALTON

Unbeaten middleweight Daniel “Golden Child” Jacobs is featured on Friday Night Fights when he meets seasoned George Walton in a 10-rounder.

This isn’t so much a step up as a step sideways for Jacobs. He outpointed Michael Walker in his last fight, and I would put Walton at roughly the same level as Walker.

Last time Jacobs was on FNF he blew out veteran Jose Varela in two rounds, the KO coming moments after analyst Teddy Atlas had suggested that the 22-year-old New Yorker isn’t really a big puncher. Atlas’s contention seemed to have validity when Jacobs failed to budge Walker, although he was meeting a durable opponent.

Walton, 35, also seems durable, his three losses in 23 fights all coming by decision. He has won his last four bouts, and in his last fight he scored perhaps his best win when he outpointed the previously unbeaten, busy-punching southpaw Jose Angel Rodriguez, in a New York State middleweight title bout. So, Walton is going to be coming into Friday’s bout in a positive frame of mind.

Jacobs has the flashy combinations and classy look of a future star, but it is still early days and although the former amateur champion won widely he did seem to be uncomfortable in the later rounds when the dogged Walker was putting pressure on him.

I think that Walton is a good test for Jacobs at this stage of the prospect’s career, but I don’t see an upset. Walton can box well but he doesn’t seem to have the extra ingredients needed to overcome a gifted young man such as Jacobs. I think the most likely result is a fairly wide decision win for Jacobs, but if he goes into the fight with the intention of making a statement — perhaps seeking to prove Teddy Atlas wrong about his punching power — a late-rounds stoppage is a possibility.