"If I do what I have to do, I might not even need the judges. I’m not worried about the judges; I’m just coming in ready for a war...It’s his first fight on his new deal with HBO and he knows he has to look impressive. But, if he is overlooking me, it’s going to play against him...I am a very bad fight for Danny Jacobs. I think he should’ve gone in another direction for his first fight coming back, especially with his inactivity. But they made that decision and they will pay for it on the 11th," stated middleweight contender Luis Arias, who talked about his upcoming clash with former champion Daniel Jacobs.
PC: My man, how’s it going?
LA: I’m doing good. How are you doing?
PC: I’m great, man. Thanks for asking. The last time I spoke to you, you said you wanted a big name and a formidable opponent. Daniel Jacobs is definitely that. You will square off with him on November 11th. You gotta be pleased with that.
LA: I’m very happy. This is what I’ve been asking for. I wanted to fight a name. I said I wanted to fight somebody with a name on that stage and this one is it.
PC: A lot is made about the size of Jacobs as a middleweight. Does that mean anything to you or do you feel like skill will override size in this one?
LA: I mean, skill does override it, but I’m not really worried about the size. My first 15 fights were at super middleweight. I’ve been fighting in the weight class above me this entire time. I’ve been fighting guys bigger than me my whole career, so I’m not really worried about the size difference. I’m going to be big in the ring the next day as well. We are just going to have to wait and see.
PC: Something else that’s been problematic in boxing is judging. Any reservations about going to New York?
LA: I can’t worry about the judges. When I go into a fight, I got gloves on, so I can’t worry about the judges. As long as I do my part...the crowd always knows who wins the fight. If I do what I have to do, I might not even need the judges. I’m not worried about the judges; I’m just coming in ready for a war.
PC: What has preparation been like for this fight?
LA: The preparation’s been perfect. We’ve been systematically getting in better shape every day and every week. I have been getting in some good rounds in sparring. Everything is going along perfectly. We treating this fight like every other fight, but we know who we got in front of us. We just been training harder and stepping it up a notch, but not getting carried away with ourselves.
PC: Jacobs hasn’t been in the ring since March. Can you exploit that in any way or do you think you will get the best version of Daniel Jacobs possible?
LA: I don’t know. He hasn’t been in there since March and he had a real tough fight. That fight took a lot out of him. On top of that, the last 3 years he’s only really had about 3 fights. I think that plays in my favor. This is my third fight this year. I had 3 fights last year and 4 fights the year before that, so I’m definitely the more active fighter, which plays into my favor, but we’re going to have to wait and see.
PC: Not trying to point at all things that could be a disadvantage for him, but he’s also been talking about Canelo and Golovkin a lot. Do you think that he may be somehow overlooking you?
LA: I hope he is overlooking me. He’s going to find out right away, like, “Damn, I should have really focused on this guy.” I know that he knows this is a big fight for him as well. It’s his first fight on his new deal with HBO and he knows he has to look impressive. But, if he is overlooking me, it’s going to play against him.
PC: You mentioning this being his first fight on his new deal reminds me of when Vernon Forrest was facing Ricardo Mayorga on the first fight of his new HBO deal and it ended in the "Upset of the Year." I’m sure you’re trying to relive Mayorga's moment on the 11th?
LA: 100%, and that’s exactly what we are going to do. I feel like I am a very bad fight for Danny Jacobs. I think he should’ve gone in another direction for his first fight coming back, especially with his inactivity. But they made that decision and they will pay for it on the 11th!
PC: You mentioned that you felt Jacobs don’t like to fight. How do you plan on using your strengths to offset him fighting off of the back foot and starting his offense off of a solid jab?
LA: I have to disrupt his rhythm. I want a dog fight. I want a war. I’m not lying, when that bell rings, I’m going to plant myself in the center of that ring and I’m ready to go toe-to-toe. I’m going to break up his rhythm and he’s going to be in a hard dog fight. It’s going to be a hard 12 rounds for him if he makes it to 12.
PC: We saw Conor McGregor get praised for just lasting almost 10 rounds against Floyd Mayweather and we also saw Danny Jacobs get a lot of attention for just not getting knocked out by Golovkin. I’m not saying he didn’t fight well and could see where some felt he won, but do you feel like we’re starting to give fighters too much credit for performing better than expected?
LA: I agree with that 100%. He did good; he put up a good fight versus Triple G. Everyone thought he was going to get knocked out and he didn’t get knocked out, and because he didn’t get knocked out, that gave him extra points. But to get a deal for just surviving...in my opinion, he did not win that fight. Yeah, it was a close fight, it was a competitive fight, but he did not win that fight. At the same time, it seemed like Triple G didn’t seem like he was all into that fight either. It’s like he just needed a win so he could guarantee himself the Canelo fight. But it’s all in the past. It is what it is and this weekend, he’s going to find out this is going to be a hard fight.
PC: If you could go into his backyard and walk away with a victory, that could open up something huge for you in 2018. I made the Mayorga reference earlier and we witnessed the big fights he was able to get after upsetting Forrest. Have you given that any thought?
LA: Yeah 100%! I knew the magnitude of the opportunity, which is one of the main reasons I took the fight. I was told it was a title eliminator, so if I go in there and knock Jacobs out in his hometown, I become a star overnight and I will be in contention for a world title. I have my goals and my goal is to fight for a world title next year. This is the perfect name and the perfect opponent for me to catapult myself into the mix with the top dogs.
PC: What was the initial reaction when you realized it was going to be Jacobs?
LA: Initially, I can’t lie, I was a little shocked. For the most part, Daniel Jacobs hasn’t been over here on HBO. He hasn’t been fighting on this side per se, he had been fighting over there, and when his name came up, I was like, "Oh!" I was thinking a fight with Lemieux or Stevens, but I saw an opportunity; I saw it was on HBO Championship Boxing and I jumped on it. I didn’t hesitate to take the fight. Jacobs is the one they wanted me to fight, then Jacobs it was.
PC: I look forward to the fight. Good luck to you and we will speak afterwards. Is there anything else you want to add before I let you go?
LA: Thank you, man. To the world, like I said, I’m coming to shock the world. I’m 100% ready and hopefully Jacobs doesn’t run. I know I’m going to catch him and he gonna get on that bike, but hopefully he sits in the middle of that ring and we can give the fans what they want, which is a war.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]