Daniel Jacobs wants Billy Joe Saunders for April 28

Middleweight Daniel Jacobs has a date and venue on hold for his return — April 28 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn — now he just needs a name to go up against. According to an interview with Jacobs manager, Keith Connolly, he tells ESPN that their side is hoping for it to be WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders, who just routed David Lemieux this past weekend.

"Danny really wants to fight Saunders," Keith Connolly, Jacobs' manager, told ESPN on Tuesday. "Danny is not a guy who shies away from hard fights. We have April 28 pretty much locked in at the Barclays Center, and we would like Billy Joe Saunders to come over and fight Danny. I think it's the fight that makes the most sense for Danny, but I don't know if Saunders will come over. Getting Saunders over on April 28 to Barclays Center, we hope it can be done. I don't know what their plans are."

Given that the other top two middleweights, Canelo Alvarez and Gennady Golovkin, are looking towards a May rematch against one another, Jacobs feels Saunders is the best fight available. That said, Jacobs manager does admit that Saunders could potentially try to wait out the winner of the Canelo-Golovkin rematch, which he could then fight next September.

Jacobs isn't interesting in waiting around for Saunders if that proves to be the case, though. His team says they extend an offer Saunders to see if he's interested, and if he's not they'll start looking at what other options they may have on the table. Jacobs most recently handled Luis Arias over 12 rounds last month on HBO.