Daniel Jacobs’ return date moved to Dec. 13

Matchroom Boxing have decided to move Daniel Jacobs’ return date up a day to avoid going head-to-head with a likely big ESPN card, and Jacobs is now set to be back on Friday, Dec. 13, live on DAZN.

Jacobs, 32, will be moving up to super middleweight for the fight, following his loss in a middleweight title unification bout to Canelo Alvarez on May 4 in Las Vegas. “The Miracle Man” (35-3, 29 KO) figures to carry the weight well at 168, even if he’s not particularly tall for the division. He’s always had a big frame at 160, and reportedly struggled some with the weight cut leading into the Canelo bout. He’s dabbled at 168 before, but never for really serious fights.

There is still talk of Jacobs facing Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, which would be a fairly big attraction in the right market, but as we’ve said before, don’t count on that, because there have been lots of rumors involving Chavez in bigger fights for the last two-and-a-half years, and all he’s actually done in that time is is fight Evert Bravo at light heavyweight in Mexico.

The show also still could feature a super flyweight unification between Juan Francisco Estrada and Kal Yafai, plus the welterweight debut of former junior welterweight titleholder Maurice Hooker.

The Dec. 14 ESPN card that Hearn wants to avoid going head-to-head with “likely” will be headlined by Terence Crawford from Madison Square Garden. There will also be a PBC on FOX show that night, which has been rumored as the date for the Julian Williams-Jarrett Hurd rematch, so it’s shaping up to be a big weekend of fights, with Mairis Briedis vs Yunier Dorticos from Latvia also coming on Dec. 14 on DAZN.