:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36739776/453412126.0.jpg)
Daniel Jacobs didn't truly win a world championship tonight, but in boxing terms, he did. And despite that asterisk, there's no denying that he was once again pretty sensational in stopping Jarrod Fletcher tonight in five rounds to win the WBA "regular" middleweight title, a version of the belt that Gennady Golovkin holds, which is a version of the championship that Miguel Cotto holds, more or less, or less, or more.
Belt politics aside, Jacobs (28-1, 25 KO) is a continually inspiring story, with a lot of talent that's really starting to come out. He drilled Fletcher (18-2, 10 KO) in the opening round, dropping him on a left hook, and landed a whopping 40 power punches in three minutes, compared to just four for Fletcher. That Fletcher got out of the round itself was kind of admirable.
In the second and third rounds, Jacobs slowed down a good bit, giving Fletcher a chance to get his feet back, and maybe gain a little confidence. If any was gained, however, Jacobs stripped it away once again with a good attack in round four, once again dominating.
He was doing the same in round five when he floored Fletcher hard late in the round, officially scoring the TKO at 2:58 of round five.
Overall, Jacobs dominated the punch stats, landing 91 of 164 (55%) of his power punches, and 26 of 130 jabs (20%). Fletcher landed a paltry 24 of 92 (26%) of his power shots, and just 13 of 137 (9%) of his jabs.